The  PRESENTATION  of 
CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


BOARD  OF  MISSIONARY  PREPARATION 
25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York 
PRICE  25  CENTS 


BOARD  OF  MISSIONARY  PREPARATION 


Prof.  Frederick  L.  Anderson,  D.D. 
The  Rev.  Janies  L,  Barton,  D.D. 
Prof.  Harlan  P.  Beach,  D.D. 

David  Bovaird,  M.D. 

Prof.  O.  E.  Brown,  D.D. 

Prof.  Ernest  DeWitt  Burton,  D.D. 

Miss  Helen  B.  Calder 

Prof.  Edward  W.  Capen,  Ph.D. 

Prof.  W.  O.  Carver,  D.D. 

The  Rev.  Wm.  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D. 

The  Rev.  George  Drach 

The  Rev.  James  Endicott,  D.D. 

Prof.  Daniel  J.  Fleming,  Ph.D. 
Dean  H.  E.  W.  Fosbroke,  D.D. 
Pres.  Henry  C.  King,  D.D. 

Prof.  Walter  L.  Lingle,  D.D. 

The  Rt.  Rev.  Arthur  S.  Lloyd,  D.D. 
The  Rev.  R.  P.  Mackay,  D.D. 


Pres.  W.  Douglas  Mackenzie,  D.D. 
John  R.  Mott,  LL.D. 

The  Rev.  Frank  Mason  North,  D.D. 
Principal  T.  R.  O’Meara,  D.D. 

Pres.  C.  T.  Paul,  Ph.D. 

Prof.  Henry  B.  Robins,  Ph.D. 

Dean  James  E.  Russell,  LL.D. 

T.  H.  P.  Sailer,  Ph.D. 

Miss  Una  Saunders 
Prof.  E.  D.  Soper,  D.D. 

Robert  E.  Speer,  D.D. 

Pres.  J.  Ross  Stevenson,  D.D. 
Fennell  P.  Turner 
Pres.  Addie  Grace  Wardle,  Ph.D. 
The  Rev.  Charles  R.  Watson,  D.D. 
The  Rev.  Stanley  White,  D.D. 

Pres.  Wilbert  W.  White,  Ph.D. 

Pres.  Mary  E.  Woolley,  Litt.D. 


W.  DOUGLAS  MACKENZIE,  Chairman 
FENNELL  P.  TURNER,  Honorary  Secretary 
WILLIAM  I.  CHAMBERLAIN,  Treasurer 

REV.  FRANK  K.  SANDERS,  Ph.D.,  Director 


THE  PRESENTATION  OF 
CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


THE  REPORT  OF  A COMMITTEE  APPOINTED  BY 
THE  '^BOARD  OF  MISSIONARY  PREPARATION 


Professor  Edward  Warren  Capen,  Ph.D.,  Chainnan 
Professor  John  P.  Jones,  D.D.,  Vice-Chairman 
The  Right  Re\’erend  V.  S.  Azariah,  D.D. 

Mr.  B.  R.  Barber 

The  Reverend  J.  G.  Brown,  D.D. 

The  Reverend  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D. 

The  Reverend  George  Drach 

The  Retorend  J.  N.  Farquhar,  D.Litt. 

Mr.  Ross  A.  Hadley 
Professor  Robert  E.  Hume,  Ph.D. 

Dean  Wilford  L.  Robbins,  D.D. 

Bishop  J.  E.  Robinson 

Professor  G.  A.  Johnston  Ross,  M.A. 

Miss  Una  M.  Saunders 
Mr.  Fennell  P.  Turner 
President  Wilbert  W.  White,  Ph.D. 

The  Rei’erend  L.  B.  Wolf,  D.D. 


Board  of  Missionary  Preparation 
25  Madison  Ave,,  New  York  City 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 
in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/presentationofch00boar_1 


PREFACE 


The  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation,  at  its  fourth  annual 
meeting,  held  in  New  York  City  December  2,  1914,  adopted 
the  recommendation  of  its  Executive  Committee  that  special 
committees  be  appointed  “to  investigate  and  report  upon  the 
special  preparation  necessary  for  foreign  missionary  candi- 
dates, if  they  are  to  be  adequately  prepared  to  present  the 
Christian  message  to  adherents  of  dififerent  non-Christian 
religions,”  and  authorized  the  Executive  Committee  to  make 
the  appointments.  At  its  meeting  of  March  23,  1915,  the 
Committee  constituted  five  such  committees  on  Animism, 
Buddhism,  Confucianism,  Hinduism  and  Mohammedanism. 

This  report  is,  therefore,  one  of  a group  prepared  by  the 
Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  on  behalf  of  the  Mission 
Boards  of  North  America,  each  report  being  issued  inde- 
pendently. These  reports  attempt  the  very  difficult  task  of 
formulating  for  the  benefit  of  missionary  candidates  and  of 
junior  missionaries^  the  religious  mind  of  the  people  in- 
fluenced by  each  religion,  their  inherited  tendencies  and  nat- 
ural viewpoints,  their  presuppositions  and  habitual  lines  of 
thinking,  the  data  of  whatever  nature  with  which  he  should 
become  familiar  who  hopes  to  carry  to  them  the  Christian 
message  and  to  get  results. 

The  first  chairman  selected  for  this  committee  was  the 
Reverend  William  I.  Chamberlain,  Ph.D.  He  had  no  sooner 
accepted’ the  appointment  than  he  was  forced  to  yield  it  be- 
cause of  a sudden  and  imperative  call  to  India  and  Arabia. 
The  Executive  Committee  then  chose  Professor  Edward  W. 
Capen  as  chairman,  associating  with  him  Professor  John 
P.  Jones  as  vice-chairman  with  particular  responsibility  for 
the  inauguration  of  the  report.  Dr.  Jones  took  hold  of  the 
task  with  enthusiasm  and  vigor  in  the  late  summer  and  earlv 
fall  of  1915. 

' In  the  reports  issued  by  the  Board  of  Missionary  Preparation  this  convenient  term 
is  used  to  designate  the  young  missionary  up  to  the  end  of  the  first  missionary  furlough. 


3 


PREFACE 


On  November  15,  1915,  the  chairmen  of  the  five  commit- 
tees, with  the  secretary  and  director  of  the  Board,  held  a 
special  meeting  for  consultation,  at  which  Dr.  Jones  pre- 
sented the  outline  of  the  proposed  report  on  Hinduism.  At 
the  annual  meeting  of  December,  1915,  the  report  was  pre- 
sented in  still  further  detail  and  received  careful  discussion. 
During  the  next  few  months  Dr.  Jones  gave  himself  with 
unremitting  industry  in  the  midst  of  arduous  professional 
service  to  the  formulation  of  the  first  draft  of  the  report. 
His  invaluable  experience  and  ripened  knowledge  of  Hin- 
duism enabled  him  to  achieve  an  unusual  result.  After  pass- 
ing through  the  friendly  criticism  of  his  colleagues,  the  report 
was  printed  by  the  Board  and  sent  far  and  wide  for  con- 
sideration and  critical  comment. 

The  list  of  those  thus  consulted  follows: 

The  Reverend  Justin  E.  Abbott,  D.D.,  Summit,  N,  J.  (formerly  of  India). 
.American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

The  Reverend  J.  Aberly,  D.D.,  Guntur,  India. 

American  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission  (General  Synod). 

The  Reverend  Herbert  Anderson,  Calcutta,  India. 

General  Secretary  Baptist  Missionary  Society  (Men’s  Branch). 

The  Reverend  W.  B.  Anderson,  D.D.,  Philadelphia,  Pa.  (formerly  of  the  Panjab, 
India). 

Corresponding  Secretary  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  United  Presbyterian  Church,  N.  A. 

The  Reverend  C.  F.  Andrews,  Bholpur,  India. 

Late  of  the  Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

Professor  John  Clark  Archer,  M.A.,  New  Haven,  Conn,  (formerly  of  India). 
Assistant  Professor  of  Missions  in  the  Yale  School  of  Religion. 

The  Reverend  A.  E.  Armstrong,  M.A.,  Toronto,  Canada. 

Assistant  Secretary  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Presbyterian  Church  in  Canada. 

The  Right  Reverend  V.  S.  .\zariah,  D.D.,  Dornakal.  Madras,  India. 

.'\nglican  Bishop  of  Dornakal.  " 

The  Reverend  John  J.  Banninga.  M..A.,  Pasumalai,  India. 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

Mr.  B.  R.  Barber,  M.A.,  Th.B.,  New  York  City  (formerly  of  India). 

International  Committee  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations. 

The  Reverend  A.  R.  Bartholomew,  D.D.,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

Secretary  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  Reformed  Church  in  the  U.  S. 

Professor  George  A.  Barton,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  Bryn  Mawr.  Pa. 

Professor  of  Biblical  Literature  and  Semitic  Languages  in  Bryn  Mawr  College. 

The  Reverend  Enoch  F.  Bell,  Boston,  Mass. 

Associate  Secretary  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 


4 


PREFACE 


The  Reverend  J.  Bittmann,  Madras,  India. 

President  Danish  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission.  , 

Professor  Arthur  C.  Boggess,  Ph.D.,  Lucknow,  India. 

Missionary  Society  Methodist  Episcopal  Church.  ] 

The  Reverend  George  William  Brown,  Ph.D.,  Jubbulpore,  C.  P.,  India. 

India  Mission  of  the  Disciples  of  Christ  (Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society). 

The  Reverend  J.  G.  Brown,  D.D.,  Toronto,  Can. 

General  Secretary  Canadian  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Board. 

Professor  Oscar  M.  Buck,  M.A.  (formerly  of  Bareilly,  India). 

Swan-Alien  Associate  Professor  of  Missions  ami  Comparative  Religion  in  Ohio  VV’esleyan 
University. 

The  Reverend  Philo  M.  Buck,  Mussoorie,  Ind. 

Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  t hurch. 

The  Reverend  J.  C.  Butcher,  Lahore,  India. 

Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Reverend  Harvey  Calkins,  Cawnpore,  India. 

Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Edward  C.  Carter,  M.A.,  Calcutta,  India. 

General  Secretary  National  Council,  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations,  India  and 
Ceylon. 

The  Reverend  R.  E.  Chambers,  Canton,  China. 

Foreign  Mission  Board,  Southern  Baptist  Convention. 

The  Reverend  John  S.  Chandler,  M.A.,  Madura,  India. 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

The  Reverend  S.  H.  Qiester,  D.D.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Secretary  Foreign  Correspondence  and  Editor  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Foreign 
Missions  of  the  Presbyterian  Church  in  the  U.  S.  (South). 

Miss  M.  L.  Christlieb,  Anantapur,  India. 

London  Missionary  Society. 

The  Reverend  Lewis  A.  Core,  D.D.,  Bareilly,  India. 

Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Reverend  Stephen  J.  Corey,  D.D.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

Secretary  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  (Disciples). 

Professor  Thomas  F.  Cummings,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City  (formerly  of  the 
Panjab,  India). 

Bible  Teachers’  Training  School. 

Dr.  S.  K.  Datta,  Lahore,  India. 

National  Missionary  Council  of  India,  Professor  in  Forman  Christian  College. 

The  Reverend  Paul  de  Schweinitz,  D.D.,  Bethlehem,  Pa. 

V'ice-President  and  Treasurer  of  the  Society  of  United  Brethren  for  Propagating  the 
Gospel  Among  the  Heathen  (Moravian  Church). 

The  Reverend  T.  S.  Donohugh,  New  York  City  (formerly  of  India). 

Candidate  Secretary  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  G.  Sherwood  Eddy,  New  York  City  (formerly  of  India). 

Associate  General  Secretary  of  the  International  Committee  of  Young  Men’s  Christian 
Associations  of  North  America,  Foreign  Department. 

The  Reverend  W.  T.  Elmore,  Ramapatnam,  Nellore  District,  India. 

General  Secretary  American  Baptist  Telugu  Mission. 

The  Reverend  J.  C.  R.  Ewing,  D.D.,  D.Litt,  Lahore,  India. 

Presbyterian  Church  in  U.  S.  A.;  Principal  of  Forman  Christian  College;  Vice-Chancellor 
of  the  University  of  the  Panjab. 


PREFACE 


llie  Reverend  J.  N.  Farquliar,  Litt.D.,  Oxford,  England. 

Literary  Secretary  National  Council,  Young  Men’s  Christian  Association  for  India  and 
Ceylon. 

The  Reverend  W.  H.  Findlay,  M.A.,  Calcutta,  India. 

National  Missionary  Council,  Director  of  the  Survey  of  India. 

Professor  Daniel  J.  Fleming,  New  York  City  (formerly  of  I^aPore,  India). 

Professor  of  Foreign  Missions  in  Union  Theological  Seminary. 

The  Reverend  J.  N.  Forman,  Mainpuri,  India. 

Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.  A. 

The  Reverend  H.  W.  Frost,  Summit,  N.  J. 

Home  Director,  China  Inland  Mission. 

The  Reverend  Richard  Gee,  Calcutta,  India. 

Society  for  the  Propagation  of  the  Gospel. 

'I'he  Reverend  Canon  S.  Gould,  M.D.,  Toronto,  Can. 

General  Secretary  Missionary  Society,  Church  of  England  in  Canada. 

The  Reverend  Edwin  Greaves,  Benares,  India. 

London  Missionary  Society.  J 

The  Reverend  H.  Gulliford,  Mysore  City,  India. 

Wesleyan  Mission  (Methodist). 

Mr.  Ross  A.  Hadley,  Richmond,  Ind.  (formerly  of  India). 

Assistant  Secretary  American  Friends  Board  of  Foreign  Missions. 

Professor  Alfred  George  Hogg,  M.A.,  Madras,  India. 

Christian  College  (The  Scottish  Churches  Mission). 

The  Reverend  W.  E.  S.  Holland,  Calcutta,  India. 

National  Missionary  Council. 

Professor  E.  W.  Hopkins,  Ph.D.,  LL.D.,  New  Haven.  Conn. 

Professor  of  Sanskrit  and  Comparative  Philology  in  Yale  University. 

The  Reverend  S.  S.  Hough,  D.D.,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

General  Secretary  Foreign  Missionary  Society,  United  Brethren  in  Christ. 

The  Reverend  Robert  A.  Hume,  D.D.,  .^hmednagar,  India. 

Marathi  Mission  of  the  American  Board. 

Professor  Robert  E.  Hume,  Ph.D.,  New  York  City  (formerly  of  Bombay,  India). 

Professor  of  Comparative  Religion  in  Union  Theological  Seminary. 

The  Reverend  Qiarles  E.  Hurlburt,  Philadelphia.  Pa. 

General  Director  of  the  American  Council,  Africa  Inland  Mission. 

The  Reverend  George  Johnson.  Cleveland.  Ohio. 

Secretary  and  Treasurer  Missionary  Society  of  the  Evangelical  Association. 

The  Reverend  E.  Stanley  Jones,  Sitapur,  India. 

Missionary  Society  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Reverend  J.  J.  Kingham,  M.A.,  Tuticorin,  India. 

General  Secretary  South  India  Conference  (Methodist).  ^ 

The  Reverend  Fred  C.  Klein,  D.D.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

Corresponding  Secretary  and  Treasurer  Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Methodist  Protestant 
Church. 

Bishop  W.  R.  Lambuth,  D.D.,  Oakdale,  Cal. 

Vice-President  Board  of  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  (South). 

The  Reverend  Bernard  Lucas,  Bellary,  India. 

London  Missionary  Society. 


6 


PREFACE 


Mrs.  T.  S.  Lee,  Satara,  India. 

Marathi  Mission  of  the  American  Board. 

The  Right  Reverend  G.  A.  Lefroy,  D.D.,  Calcutta,  India. 

Bishop  of  Calcutta  and  Metropolitan  of  the  Church  of  England  in  India. 

The  Reverend  E.  DeL.  Lucas,  M.A.,  Lahore,  India. 

Presbyterian  Church,  U.  S.  A. 

The  Reverend  Lewis  E.  Linzell,  Baroda,  India. 

Missionary  Society  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Professor  EHincan  B.  Macdonald,  M..A..,  D.D.,  Hartford,  Conn. 

Professor  of  Semitic  Languages  and  Mohammedanism  in  the  Hartford  Theological 
Seminary. 

The  Reverend  D.  Mtickichan,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Bombay,  India. 

Principal  Wilson  College,  United  Free  Church  of  Scotland. 

The  Reverend  Janies  H.  Maclean,  Conjeeveram,  India. 

United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Mission. 

The  Reverend  N.  MacNicol,  M.A.,  Litt.D.,  Poona.  India. 

United  Free  Church  of  Scotland  Mission. 

The  Reverend  D.  H.  Manley,  Calcutta,  India. 

Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Reverend  A.  McLean,  D.D.,  Cincinnati,  Ohio. 

President  Foreign  Christian  Missionary  Society  (Disciples). 

Professor  J.  Allen  Miller,  Ashland,  Ohio. 

President  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Brethren  Church. 

The  Reverend  John  X.  Miller,  Pasumalai,  India. 

Madura  Mission  of  the  American  Board. 

Professor  George  F.  Moore,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  Litt.D.,  Cambridge,  Mass. 

Professor  of  History  of  Religion  in  Harvard  University. 

The  Reverend  M.  T.  Morrill,  D.D.,  Dayton,  Ohio. 

President  and  Secretary  of  the  Mission  Board  of  the  Christian  Church. 

Professor  S.  C.  Mukerji,  Serampore,  India. 

Serampore  College. 

The  Reverend  B.  H.  Niebel,  Penbrook,  Pa. 

Corresponding  Secretary  Home  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  United  Evangelical 
Church. 

Bishop  William  F.  Oldham,  D.D. 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Reverend  Cornelius  H.  Patton,  D.D.,  Boston,  Mass. 

Corresponding  Secretary  American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

The  Reverend  George  Pittendrigh,  M.A.,  Madras,  India. 

The  Madras  Christian  College  (The  Scottish  Churches  Mission). 

The  Reverend  T.  B.  Ray,  D.D.,  Richmond,  Va. 

Secretary  of  the  Foreign  Mission  Board,  Southern  Baptist  Convention. 

The  Reverend  Joseph  C.  Robbins,  Boston,  Mass. 

Foreign  Secretary  American  Baptist  Foreign  Mission  Society. 

Bishop  J.  W.  Robinson,  D.D.,  Bombay,  India. 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Bishop  J.  E.  Robinson,  D.D.,  Bangalore,  India. 

Board  of  Foreign  Missions,  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 


7 


PREFACE 


The  Reverend  Noble  L.  Rockey,  D.D.,  Gonda,  India. 

Missionary  Society  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

Mr.  Frank  V.  Slack,  Madras,  India. 

Student  Secretary,  National  Council,  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations  for  India  and 
Ceylon. 

The  Reverend  Egbert  W.  Smith,  D.D.,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

Executive  Secretary  of  the  Executive  Committee  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Presbyterian 
Church  in  the  U.  S.  (South). 

Miss  Clarissa  Spencer,  New  York  City. 

Secretary  Foreign  Department  of  the  National  Board  of  the  Young  Women’s  Christian 
• Associations,  U.  S.  A. 

Elder  W.  A.  Spicer,  Washington,  D.  C. 

Secretary  of  the  General  Conference  of  Seventh-Day  Adventists. 

The  Reverend  Juergen  Staecker,  Sambari,  P.  O.  Makkuva,  India. 

Schleswig-Holstein  Evangelical  Lutheran  Mission. 

The  Reverend  Burton  St.  John,  New  York  City. 

Statistician  of  the  Continuation  Committee. 

Miss  Eva  M.  Swift,  Madura,  India. 

American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions. 

Dr.  S.  Earl  Taylor,  New  York  City. 

Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church. 

The  Reverend  James  E.  Tracy,  D.D.,  Kodaikanal,  India. 

Madura  Mission  of  the  American  Board. 

The  Reverend  Howard  A.  Walter,  M.A.,  Lahore,  India. 

Secretary  for  Mohammedanism  of  the  Literary  Department  of  the  National  Council, 
The  Young  Men’s  Christian  Associations  of  India  and  Ceylon. 

Bishop  F.  W.  Warne,  D.D.,  Lucknow,  India. 

Missionary  Society  Methodist  Episcopal  Church. 

The  Right  Reverend  Henry  Whitehead,  D.D.,  Madras,  India. 

Anglican  Bishop  of  Madras. 

Miss  F.  E.  Wilson,  Bombay,  India. 

Zenana  Bible  and  Medical  Mission. 

The  Reverend  W.  A.  Wilson, .M.. A.,  D.D.,  Indore,  India. 

Canadian  Presbyterian  Mission. 

The  Reverend  L.  B.  Wolf,  D.D.,  Baltimore,  Md. 

General  Secretary  and  Treasurer  of  the  Board  of  Foreign  Missions  of  the  General  Synod 
of  the  Evangelical  Lutheran  Church  in  the  U.  S.  A. 

Mr.  John  W.  Wood,  D.C.L.,  New  York  City. 

Secretary  Domestic  and  Foreign  Missionary  Society  of  the  Protestant  Episcopal  Church 
in  the  U.  S.  A. 

President  William  M.  Zumbro,  M.A.,  Madura,  India. 

American  College  (American  Board  of  Commissioners  for  Foreign  Missions). 

In  the  early  fall  of  1916,  Dr,  Jones  was  studying  the  sug- 
gestions of  the  replies  which  had  come  from  every  quarter 
in  preparation  for  making  a revised  draft  of  the  report, 
when  he  was  taken  ill  and  passed  away,  dying,  as  he  had 
lived,  in  the  service  of  India.  His  last  activity  was  a review 


8 


PREFACE 


of  the  report  with  the  Director  at  the  office  of  the  Board. 
In  the  subsequent  history  of  the  report  his  enthusiasm, 
scholarship  and  wise  judgment  have  been  sorely  missed.  His 
colleagues  rejoice  that  he  was  able  to  carry  it  so  far  that 
it  remains  in  a very  distinctive  sense  as  his  final  contribution 
to  the  cause  to  which  he  had  devoted  his  whole  life. 

In  the  final  revision  of  the  report  the  Chairman  and  Di- 
rector have  had  the  invaluable  aid,  most  generously  granted, 
of  Professor  Robert  E.  Hume,  Ph.D.,  of  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  of  Professor  E.  Washburn  Hopkins,  Ph.D.,  of 
Yale  University,  of  Dr.  J.  E.  Abbott,  formerly  of  Bombay, 
and  of  Professor  D.  J.  Fleming,  Ph.D.,  of  Union  Theological 
Seminary,  formerly  the  Vice-Principal  of  Forman  Christian 
College,  Lahore,  India. 

The  report,  as  now  published,  may  fairly  be  termed  a con- 
sensus of  wide-ranging  expert  opinion.  It  is  not  to  be 
regarded  as  a final  statement  on  the  preparation  of  mis- 
sionaries for  work  among  Hindus.  No  pains  have  been 
spared  to  make  it  useful,  not  alone  to  the  novice,  but  even,  in 
important  respects,  to  the  missionary  of  considerable  experi- 
ence. Criticisms  or  suggestions  for  use  in  future  editions 
of  the  report  will  always  be  gratefully  received  and  should 
be  addressed  to  the  Director  of  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation,  25  Madison  Avenue,  New  York  City. 

Frank  K.  Sanders. 

November,  1917. 


9 


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CONTENTS 


PAGE 

INTRODUCTION 15 

I.  Characteristic  Qualities  of  the  Hindu  People 17 

1.  Their  Racial  Types 17 

2.  Their  Civilization 17 

3.  Their  Intellectual  Keenness  18 

4.  Their  Genius  for  Religion 18 

5.  Their  Religious  Mysticism 19 

6.  Their  Poetic  Temperament 19 

7.  Their  Type  of  Character 19 

II.  The  Distinctive  Features  of  Their  Religion 20 

1.  The  Historical  Development  of  India’s  Religion  ....  21 

(a)  Its  Vedic  Origin 21 

(b)  Ceremonial  Brahmanism 22 

(c)  The  Philosophical  Expression  of  Brahmanic  Re- 

ligion   22 

(d)  Institutional  Brahmanism 24 

(e)  The  Buddhist  and  Jain  Reactions 25 

(f)  The  Doctrine  of  Incarnation 25 

(g)  Modern  Hindu  Cults 26 

2.  The  Distinctive,  Permanent  Teachings  of  Hinduism  ...  26 

(a)  Pantheism 27 

(b)  Polytheism  and  Idolatry 27 

(c)  The  Doctrine  of  Karma  and  Transmigration  . . 27 

(d)  The  Eternity  of  the  Universe 27 

(e)  The  Reabsorption  of  the  Individual 28 

3.  The  Eclecticism  of  Hinduism  28 

4.  The  Essential  Nature  of  Hinduism 29 

5.  Modern  Reform  Movements  in  Hinduism 31 

III.  Hinduism  and  Christianity  Related 33 

1.  Their  Common  Elements  Compared 33 

(a)  Both  Are  Spiritual  Religions 33 

(b)  Each  Recognizes  a Threefold  Conception  of  God  . 34 

(c)  Each  Has  a Doctrine  of  Incarnation  ....  34 

(d)  Each  Has  a Certain  Idea  of  Atonement  ...  35 

(e)  Each  Proclaims  and  Exalts  the  Doctrine  of  Faith  35 

(f)  Their  Teachings  Regarding  the  Future  Have  a 

Common  Basis 35 

2.  The  Contrasts  between  Them 36 

(a)  One  is  Ethnic;  the  Other  Universal 36 

(b)  One  is  Eclectic;  the  Other  Has  a Definite  Faith  . 36 

(c)  Entrance  to  One  is  Automatic;  to  the  Other,  Vol- 

untary   ,37 

(d)  Their  Teachings  About  God  .\rc  .^ntipodal  3/ 

(e)  Their  Doctrines  Concerning  the  Univer.se  Are  Di- 

vergent   37 


11 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 

(f)  Their  Doctrines  of  the  Soul  Are  Different,  Both 

Philosophically  and  Ethically 38 

(g)  Their  Doctrines  of  Sin  Are  Antithetical  ...  38 

(h)  Their  Processes  of  Redemption  Are  Diverse  . . 39 

(i)  Their  Estimates  of  Personality  Are  Opposed  . . 39 

(j)  Their  Conceptions  of  Social  Life  and  Service  Are 

Divergent 39 

IV.  The  Literature  of  Hinduism 40 

1.  Its  Divine  Inspiration 41 

2.  Its  Voluminous  and  Varied  Character 41 

3.  Its  Polyglot  Nature - 42 

4.  Its  Dominating  Religious  Note 43 

5.  Its  Literary  Value  43 

6.  Its  Deterioration 44 

7.  Its  Lack  of  Historical  Perspective 44 

V.  The  Missionary's  Attitude  Toward  the  People 45 

1.  Appreciation  45 

2.  Sympathy  47 

3.  Patience 49 

4.  A Love  for  the  People 50 

5.  A High  Evaluation  of  the  Indian  Christians 50 

VI.  The  Missionaries  Attitude  Toward  the  Religious  Thought  and 

Faith  of  the  People 51 

1.  Discrimination 51 

(a)  Between  Essential  and  Incidental  Features  ...  52 

(b)  Between  Hinduism  as  a Religion  and  Some  of  Its 

Truths 52 

(c)  Between  the  Hinduism  of  the  Thinker  and  Popular 

Beliefs 53 

2.  Fairness  of  Judgment 53 

3.  Sensitiveness  to  Dissonances 54 

4.  Skill  in  the  Presentation  of  Christianity 55 

5.  A Definite  Conception  of  the  Ultimate  Relations  of  Hinduism 

and  Christianity 55 

VII.  The  Missionary’s  Message  to  the  Hindu  People 56 

1.  A Presentation  of  the  Essential  Gospel 57 

2.  A Presentation  of  Jesus  Christ 57 

3.  A Message  Definitely  Ethical 58 

4.  A Message  Distinctively  Spiritual  . 59 

5.  A Message  Definitely  Scriptural 60 

6.  A Message  Which  Emphasizes  the  Unity  of  Faith  ...  60 

7.  A Message  Which  Exalts  the  Divine  Immanence  as  Well  as 

Transcendence 61 

VIII.  The  Lessons  to  be  Learned  from  Past  Missionary  Efforts  in 

India 62 

1.  The  Syrian  Churches  63 

2.  The  Roman  Catholic  Propaganda 64 

3.  The  Continental  Protestant  Missions 65 


12 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


4.  The  British  Protestant  Ef¥ort 65 

5.  The  American  Effort 66 

IX.  Regular  and  Special  Avenues  of  Missionary  Approach  to 

Hindus 66 

1.  Through  the  Cultivation  of  Close  Relations  with  the  People  67 

(a)  The  Adoption  of  Indian  Food  and  Attire  ...  67 

(b)  The  Adoption  of  the  Ascetic  Life 69 

2.  Through  Definite  Plans  for  the  Uplift  of  Womanhood  . . 70 

3.  Through  the  Mastery  of  the  Vernacular 71 

4.  Through  Preparation  for  Specialized  Service 73 

(a)  Evangelistic  Work  73 

(b)  Educational  Work 73 

(c)  Literary  Work  74 

(d)  Medical  Work  75 

(e)  Industrial  and  Agricultural  Work 75 

(f)  Financial  and  Administrative  Work 76 

(g)  Association  Work 76 

(h)  Philanthropic  and  Humanitarian  Work  ....  76 

X.  The  Controlling  Purpose  OF  THE  True  Missionary 76 

XI.  Studies  of  Special  Value  to  One  Who  is  to  Become  a Missionary 

to  Hindus 78 

XII.  Bibliography 82 

XIII.  Suggested  Reading  Courses  for  Those  Preparing  for  Mission- 

ary Work  in  India 101 

XIV.  Selected  References  to  Paragraphs 104 

Index 109 


13 


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THE  PRESENTATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY 
TO  HINDUS. 


Introduction. 

This  report  confines  itself  to  the  preparation  needed  for 
work  among  the  Hindu  section  of  the  population  of  India. 
Hinduism  is  used  here  substantially  to  indicate  that  tendency 
of  religious  thinking  which  is  fundamental  to  one  brought 
up  in  the  atmosphere  of  the  religion  that  is  predominant  in 
India,  and  which  must  be  borne  in  mind  by  the  missionary,  if 
his  presentation  of  the  gospel  message  is  to  reach  its  ad- 
herents. It  must  be  clearly  understood  that  Hinduism  is  not 
uniform  in  content  or  quality ; it  varies  from  a religion  which 
is  little  more  than  animism  up  to  a theism  which  retains  few 
if  any  animistic  elements.^ 

While  the  preparation  suggested  may  seem  formidable  and 
even  discouraging  to  some  candidates  for  missionary  service, 
it  is  hoped  that  to  most  of  them  it  will  be  rather  a 
challenge  to  highest  effort.  To  those  who  desire  to  become 
missionaries,  but  find  this  full  preparation  impossible,  it  may 
be  said  that  many  missionaries  whose  preparation  has  been 
far  below  this  standard  find  large  opportunities  for  useful- 
ness among  Hindus.  Yet  the  day  has  come  when  ever-in- 
creasing opportunities  for  a full  training  for  this  work  are 
available  in  the  West  and  on  the  field,  and  when  the  demand 
for  it  is  increasingly  recognized  in  India. 

The  basal  assumption  in  all  this  preparation  must  be  that 
everyone  who  seeks  it  has  already  fully  dedicated  himself  to 
God  and  has  entered  into  fellowship  in  service  with  Christ. 
Conscious  discipleship  and  a settled  purpose  to  make  the  king- 
dom of  God  his  first  and  supreme  concern  are  the  fundamen- 

• The  definition  of  Hinduism  given  in  the  General  Census  Report  of  India,  1911,  is  worth 
quoting:  “Hinduism  is  a complex  congeries  of  creeds  and  doctrines.  It  shelters  within  its 

portals  monotheists,  polytheists  and  pantheists;  persons  who  propitiate  their  deity  by  all 
manner  of  bloody  sacrifices,  and  persons  who  will  not  only  kill  no  living  creature,  but  who 
must  not  even  use  the  word  “cut”;  those  whose  ritual  consists  mainly  of  prayers  and  hymns, 
and  those  who  indulge  in  unspeakable  orgies  in  the  name  of  religion."  (p.  2.) 


15 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


tal  conditions  of  missionary  preparation.  To  them  should  be 
added  a conviction  regarding  the  absoluteness  and  uniqueness 
of  Christianity  as  a redemptive  religion  and  the  supremacy 
of  Christ  as  the  Saviour  of  men.  On  these  matters  the  mis- 
sionary to  Hindus  must  have  no  doubt  or  hesitation.  With 
such  convictions  should  be  coupled  a deep  sense  of  the  spirit- 
ual need  of  the  non-Christian  world  and  a consciousness  of  a 
Divine  call  to  go  forth  to  supply  that  need. 

This  report  seeks  to  avoid  the  repetition  of  details  already 
given  in  the  Report  on  the  Special  Preparation  Needed  for 
Missionaries  appointed  to  India,  issued  in  1915  by  the  Board 
of  Missionary  Preparation  in  its  Fourth  Annual  Report  and 
published  separately  the  next  year.  The  two  reports  supple- 
ment each  other  and  should  be  studied  together.  Two  other 
reports  should  also  be  referred  to  in  this  connection,  namely, 
that  upon  “Preparation  for  Missionaries  Appointed  to  Work 
among  Animists”  and  that  upon  “Preparation  for  Mission- 
aries Appointed  to  Work  among  Moslems.”  Even  though 
India  contains  millions  of  Moslems  and  though  animism  is 
almost  universally  a prominent  characteristic  of  Hinduism, 
it  has  been  deemed  best  not  to  encroach  unnecessarily  upon 
the  sphere  of  these  reports.  Each  should  be  studied  by  one 
preparing  for  missionary  work  in  India. 

The  purpose  of  this  report  is  not  to  analyze  Hinduism  ex- 
haustively, much  less  to  present  a treatise  or  text-book  upon 
that  religion;  it  is  not  even  to  outline  a complete  course  of 
preparation  for  missionaries  to  India;  but  it  is  to  express 
as  clearly  as  possible  those  characteristics  of  the  Hindu  re- 
ligious mind  with  which  the  young  missionary  must  be 
familiar,  if  he  is  so  to  enter  into  the  thought  and  life  of  the 
people  that  he  can  present  to  them  the  gospel  of  Christ  with 
real  effectiveness,  and  also  to  suggest  certain  topics  for  study 
at  home  and  on  the  field  which  will  increase  his  power  for 
good  as  an  interpreter  of  Christianity  to  Hindus. 


16 


I.  Characteristic  Qualities  of  the 
Hindu  People 

Of  the  whole  population  of  India,  70  per  cent.,  or  217,- 
586,920,  were  listed  as  adherents  of  Hinduism  in  the  census 
of  1911.  They  are  found  in  every  part  of  the  peninsula  of 
India. 

1.  Their  Racial  Types. — They  represent  several  impor- 
tant and  distinctive  racial  types, — Indo-Aryan,  Dravidian, 
Scythian,  Turki,  Mongolian, — and  these  mingle  in  all  shades 
and  proportions,  so  that  it  is  becoming  increasingly  difficult 
to  find  a pure  representative  of  any  one  of  these  races  in 
India.  Aryans  and  Dravidians  are  the  two  main  elements. 
The  former  prevail  largely  in  North  India,  while  the  latter 
constitute  the  great  dominating  element  in  South  India.  They 
are  very  different  in  their  type,  and  furnish  an  admirable 
racial  blend. 

2.  Their  Civilization. — The  Hindus  possess  an  ancient 
civilization  which  is  well  worthy  of  a thorough  study.  Their 
history  has  its  roots  in  prehistoric  times.  When  western 
peoples  were  in  the  depth  of  barbarism,  India  enjoyed  in 
certain  areas  a unique  civilization  of  its  own.  The  people 
emerged  into  history  between  three  and  four  thousand  years 
ago.  From  the  very  earliest  times  the  Aryan  community  in 
India  had  leaders  of  earnest  thought  and  of  intellectual  acu- 
men. Its  early  civilization  is  reflected  in  Vedic  and  post- 
Vedic  writings  which  indicate  the  possession  of  a domestic, 
social,  political  and  religious  life  of  no  mean  character  and 
of  great  promise.  Little  more  is  known  of  the  Dravidians 
previous  to  the  Aryan  incursion,  than  that  they  were  probably 
the  aborigines,  and  a sturdy  and  vigorous  people  with  a civ- 
ilization of  their  own.  One  who  goes  to  India  today  finds 
himself  in  the  midst  of  a civilization  which  is  not  only  very 
ancient,  but  which  is  so  varied  and  comprehensive  that  it  can- 
not be  described  in  a single  paragraph. 


17 


f‘RKSENT]N'(;  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


I X 


3.  Their  Intellectual  Keenness. — The  best  people  of  India 
are  highly  gifted  intellectually.  They  have  maintained  and 
cultivated,  during  three  millenniums,  the  strength  of  the 
ancient  Indo-Aryan  mind,  a mind  which  has  been  rendered 
more  subtle  by  its  coalescence  with  that  of  the  other  gifted 
races  of  the  land.  No  Westerner  in  India  can  fail  to  admire 
the  intellectual  keenness  he  meets  there.  Their  philosophies, 
their  systems  of  ontology,  and  their  religious  speculations 
are  probably  not  surpassed  in  abstruseness  or  elaboration 
by  those  of  any  other  people  of  ancient  times,  and  are  fre- 
quently the  admiration  of  modern  Western  scholars.^ 

At  the  same  time,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the  intellect 
of  the  Hindu  is  speculative  rather  than  practical,  and  that  he 
does  not  always  put  his  intellectual  convictions  into  practice. 
Argumentation  is  delighted  in,  but  with  a desire  to  secure 
victory  in  a war  of  words  rather  than  to  convince.  No 
branch  of  religious  thought  has  escaped  attention;  the  people 
have  persistently  and  predominantly  pursued  abstruse  specu- 
lations as  to  the  relations  of  God  and  man.  It  must  be 
remembered,  however,  that  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of 
India  is  still  illiterate. 

4.  Their  Genius  for  Religion. — The  Hindus  have  a genius 
for  religion.  India  is  the  “mother  of  religions” ; one-third  of 
the  human  race  today  is  worshiping  at  shrines  of  her  crea- 
tion. Moreover  most  other  great  world  faiths  have  found 
asylum  there.  India  has  sixty-six  million  Moslems^  among 
her  population,  four  times  as  many  as  are  in  all  the  Turkish 
Empire.  In  some  ways  the  life  of  the  Hindus  is  influenced 
by  their  religion  more  than  is  the  case  in  any  other  land.  It 

‘ An  oft-quoted  eulogy  is  from  the  pessimistic  Schopenhauer,  chief  of  modern  pantheists  of 
the  West,  whose  own  philosophy  is  unmistakably  transfused  with  many  of  the  doctrines 
expounded  in  the  Upanishads:  “It  [Antequil  du  Perron’s  Latin  translation  of  a Persian 

translation  of  the  Upanishads]  is  the  most  rewarding  and  the  most  elevating  reading  which 
(with  the  exception  of  the  original  text)  there  can  possibly  be  in  the  world.  It  has  been 
the  solace  of  my  life,  and  will  be  of  my  death.’’  U'erke,  vol.  6,  p.  427. 

Professor  Paul  Deussen,  translator  into  German  of  the  Upanishads,  who  has  found  in 
them  the  substance  of  the  teachings  of  Parmenides,  Plato,  Kant,  and  the  New  Testament,  says: 
“The  Vedanta  in  its  unfalsified  form  is  the  strongest  support  of  pure  morality,  is  the  greatest 
consolation  in  the  sufferings  of  life  and  death.  Indians,  keep  to  it!’’  “Elements  of  Meta- 
physics,’’ p.  337. 

’.According  to  the  “Census  of  India,  1911,’’  the  Moslem  population  is  66,647,299. 


18 


THEIR  CFI  \RACTERISTIC  QUALITIES  1.  7. 

penetrates  and  regulates  every  department  of  life,  individual, 
domestic  and  social.  A pious  Hindu  never  undertakes  any- 
thing of  importance  in  life  without  definitely  religious  rites 
or  ceremonies.  In  India,  according  to  the  last  census,  that 
of  1911,  only  seventeen  registered  themselves  as  atheists 
and  fifty  as  agnostics.  Nearly  all  of  these  almost  negligible 
exceptions  were  from  Buddhistic  Burma,  and  were  probably 
Mongolians. 

5.  Their  Religious  Mysticism. — In  their  religion  Hindus 
are  mystical.  Pantheism  clings  more  or  less  to  all,  and  this 
gives  a mystical  turn  to  the  speech  even  of  the  uneducated. 
The  highest  spiritual  goal  is  union  with  the  Supreme  Soul 
(Paramatman).  Those  who  give  themselves  wholly  to  re- 
ligion withdraw  from  practical  life.^  They  regard  their 
intellectual  processes  as  theoretically  too  superior  to  be  ap- 
plied to  common  affairs.  Most  Hindus  fail  to  relate  them- 
selves ethically  or  socially  to  their  fellow  men,  even  when 
they  give  themselves  ardently  to  mystic  and  ecstatic  union 
with  Brahma,  the  absolute  Soul.  Their  spiritual  aspirations 
often  have  been  persistently  genuine,  high  and  eager ; some- 
times they  have  revealed  great  strength  and  beauty,  even 
though  wanting  in  sanity  and  proportion,  and  not  leading  to 
helpful  ethical  results. 

6.  Their  Poetic  Temperament. — Many  Hindus  are  poetic 
in  their  temperament  and  gifts.^  They  are  a people  of  the 
tropics.  In  their  philosophy,  poetic  imagery  or  an  analogy 
has  the  dignity  of  an  argument  and  carries  great  force  and 
importance.  Their  religious  thinking  has  a perfervid,  ori- 
ental, hyperbolic  character.  Their  historical  writings  broaden 
into  myth  and  legend.  They  have  never  been  interested  in 
writing  sober  history. 

7.  Their  Type  of  Character. — In  type  of  character  the 

^ Occasionally  to  become  spiritual  teachers  (gurus)  of  others,  as  did  Tukaram,  Namdey, 
Eknath,  Ramdas,  notable  Hindu  saints  of  Western  India. 

* Not  only  the  well-known  Rabindranath  Tagore,  but  also  Sairojini  Naidu  and  Toru  Dutt 
(see  Bibliography),  writing  in  English,  are  representatives  of  a very  large  group  of  poets  who 
exercise  a wide  influence  in  India  today  through  their  vernacular  poems. 


19 


I.  7.  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 

Hindus  represent  the  passive  or  non-resisting,  rather  than 
the  aggressive  temper  which  is  so  characteristic  of  the  West. 
They  are  strong  in  the  grace  of  patient  endurance.  They 
will  usually  suffer  for  their  convictions  rather  than  fight  for 
them.^  Especially  in  the  South  they  are  unaffected  by  the 
strenuous  ambitions  of  a temperate  zone.  The  people  of 
North  America  and  the  people  of  India  have  represented 
these  two  extremes  of  character ; the  one,  the  culmination  of 
restlessness  and  aggressiveness ; the  other,  the  apotheosis  of 
calmness  and  patient  repose,  even  though,  at  times,  their  emo- 
tions master  them.  Yet  this  distinction  is  growing  less 
marked  in  proportion  as  India  becomes  a part  of  the  world 
of  today  and  is  learning  lessons  of  initiative.  It  is  funda- 
mentally important  for  the  missionary  to  have  a thorough 
understanding  of  this  people  and  of  their  relation  to  him. 
But  no  people  so  diversified  as  the  Hindus  can  be  analyzed 
in  a paragraph.  The  missionary  will  always  find  in  the  East, 
just  as  in  the  West,  a great  variety  of  temperament. 

II.  The  Distinctive  Features  of  Their  Religion 

There  is  no  ethnic  religion  more  difficult  to  understand 
than  Hinduism.  This  is  partly  because  it  is  so  eclectic  and 
absorbent  in  its  spirit  and  in  its  practice,  so  self-contradictory 
in  much  of  its  teaching,  and  so  regardless  of  consistency  in 
its  contentions.  For  this  reason  there  has  been  among  some 
missionaries  to  Hindus  a certain  failure  adequately  to  under- 
stand and  appreciate  the  characteristic  features  and  essen- 
tial elements  of  their  religion.  It  is  of  the  greatest  value  to 
the  active  missionary  to  know  as  thoroughly  as  possible  the 
facts  concerning  what  the  people  believe  and  what  animates 
and  inspires  them  in  their  religious  life,  even  though  it  may 
be  extremely  difficult  for  him  either  to  understand  or  to 
define  it.  Such  a knowledge  involves  among  other  things 

^ But  they  are  ready  under  some  conditions  to  fight  for  their  religious  convictions,  as  the 
missionary  will  soon  find  out. 


20 


DISTINCTIVE  FEATURES  OF  HINDUISM 


II.  1.  (a) 


a careful  study  by  the  prospective  missionary  of  the  his- 
torical development  of  Hinduism  as  well  as  a study  of  its 
essential,  theoretical  teachings. 

1.  The  Historical  Development  of  India's  Religion. — 
India’s  religion  has  been  in  the  process  of  evolution  during 
at  least  three  thousand  years.  Every  epoch  in  its  history 
marks  a phase  in  that  development.  An  acquaintance  with 
these  stages  of  growth,  which  may  not  always  be  chrono- 
logically successive  or  mutually  exclusive,  is  of  great  value 
to  the  one  who  carries  the  Christian  message  to  its  people. 

(a)  Its  Vedic  Origin. — Indian  religion  has  its  first  ex- 
pression in  the  Vedas,  where  nature- worship  seems  to  be  the 
all  but  exclusive  feature.  The  earliest  days  of  the  Vedic  era 
were  the  days  of  simplicity,  when  the  soul  was  largely  un- 
hampered and  unhelped  by  ritual  in  worship.  Later  in  the 
era,  however,  ritual  in  all  its  forms  began  to  grip  the  people. 

The  Indian  Vedas  are  four  in  number,  the  Rig  Veda,  the 
Yajur  Veda,  the  Sama  Veda  and  the  Atharva  Veda.  The 
most  important  of  these  is  the  Rig  Veda,^  which  is  a vast 
treasure  house  of  song  and  prayer  and  is,  perhaps,  the  most 
remarkable  collection  extant  of  sustained  ancient  lyric 
poetry.  It  includes  ten  books  with  more  than  10,000  verses. 
The  Psalms  contain  2,256.  Its  prayers  and  songs  are  ad- 
dressed to  the  principal  Aryan  gods  of  that  time — Varuna, 
Indra,  Agni,  Surya,  Soma  and  others.  Some  of  its  prayers 
are  among  the  oldest  and  most  stately  known  in  literature. 

The  next  two  Vedas  are  largely  made  up  of  extracts 
from  the  Rig  Veda  with  sacrificial  formulas,  charms  and  in- 
cantations. The  Yajur  Veda  is  a manual  of  sacrifice.  The 
Sama  Veda  is  a collection  of  chants  for  use  in  the  worship^ 
of  the  god  Soma,  the  intoxicating  juice  of  the  soma  plant. 

1 According  to  Macdonell,  “History  of  Sanskrit  Literature,”  a theory  of  inspiration  and 
of  literal  infallibility  arose  early  so  that  “extraordinary  precautions  soon  began  to  be  taken  to 
guard  the  canonical  text  [of  the  Rig  Veda]  against  the  possibility  of  any  change  or  loss.  The 
result  has  been  its  preservation  with  a faithfulness  unique  in  literary  history”  (p.  SO). 

’ See  Whittier’s  poem  entitled  “The  Brewing  of  Soma,”  the  last  paragraphs  of  which 
contain  the  familiar  hymn  “Dear  Lord  and  Father  of  Mankind,”  contrasting  Christian 
with  Vedic  worship. 


21 


II.  1.  (a)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


The  Atharva  V eda  is  of  relatively  late  origin  and  of  inferior 
character.  It  is  composed  largely  of  incantations  and  spells 
which  are  used  even  today  as  appeals  to  ignorance  and  super- 
stition among  the  people. 

The  primitive  religious  worship  reflected  in  these  Vedas 
gradually  gave  place  to  an  elaborate  form  or  ritual. 

(b)  Ceremonial  Brahmanism. — The  second  stage  in  the 
development  of  Hinduism  was  ceremonial  Brahmanism, 
which,  beginning  in  the  Vedic  era  itself,  organized  the  details 
of  worship  by  enforcing  and  elaborating  ritual  and  giving 
prominence  to  the  priest.  Even  in  the  manuals  for  the  use  of 
the  Rig  Veda  (where  but  one  reference  occurs  to  the  four 
main  castes  of  subsequent  Hinduism),  there  emerge  three 
classes  of  priests,  each  taking  a section  of  the  ritual. 
Through  these  early  changes  the  Brahman  began  his  long 
career  of  dominance  over  the  religious  life  of  India.  He 
established  a compact  and  elaborate  ritual  which  rendered 
him  an  essential  intermediary  between  the  people  and  their 
gods. 

The  books  which  reveal  this  situation  and  interpret  this 
epoch  are  the  Brahmanas,  the  Brahman’s  guide-books  to  rit- 
ual. They  are  prosaic  directories  of  worship^  for  the 
Brahman  priest,  enabling  him  to  be  punctilious  and  pedantic 
in  his  priestly  functions;  they  also  abound  in  legendary,  dog- 
matic, magical  and  other  information.  Perhaps  the  oldest 
of  these  books  is  the  Aitareya  Brahmana  of  about  the  seventh 
century  B.  C. 

(c)  The  Philosophical  Expression  of  Brahmanic  Religion. 
— The  excessive  ritualism  of  the  Brahmanas  led  to  a reac- 
tion toward  the  finer  and  fuller  expression  of  religious  think- 

‘ Dr.  Eggling,  late  Professor  of  Sanskrit  at  Edinburgh  University,  the  translator  of 
the  Satapatha  Brahmana  for  the  “Sacred  Books  of  the  East’’  (Bib.  28)  makes  the  following 
estimate:  “In  the  whole  range  of  literature  few  works  are  probably  less  calculated  to  excite 

the  interest  of  any  outside  the  very  limited  number  of  specialists  than  the  ancient  theological 
writings  of  the  Hindus,  known  by  the  name  of  Brahmanas.  For  wearisome  prolixity  of 
exposition,  characterized  by  dogmatic  assertion  and  a flimsy  symbolism  rather  than  by  serious 
reasoning,  these  works  are  perhaps  not  equaled  anywhere.  They  represent  the  intellectual  activity 
of  a sacerdotal  caste  which,  by  turning  to  account  the  religious  instincts  of  a gifted  and 
naturally  devout  race,  has  succeeded  in  transforming  a primitive  worship  of  the  powers  of 
nature  into  a highly  artificial  system  of  sacrificial  ceremonies.’’  (S.  B.  E.,  Vol.  12,  p.  ix.) 


22 


DISTINCTIVE  FEATURES  OF  HINDUISM 


II.  1.  (c) 


ing  enunciated  in  the  contemplative  Upanishads.  The  Upani- 
shads  were  unconventional,  conversational  speculations  on  the 
nature  of  religion  and  its  essential  reality,  prepared  for  the 
study  of  those  who  retired  into  the  forests  for  meditation. 
They  are  of  a religio-philosophical  form.  Max  Muller  has 
termed  them  “guesses  at  truth.”  They  are  essentially  ex- 
pressions of  devotional  aspiration  for  ultimate  Reality. 

The  Upanishads  furnished  the  foundation  and  starting- 
point  for  India’s  great  Vedantic  system  of  thought.  From 
them  were  very  gradually  developed  during  many  centuries 
the  six  great  philosophies  (shad-shastras)  of  Brahmanism, 
which  have  given  expression  to  the  various  shades  and  types 
of  Hindu  thought.  They  are: 

(1)  The  Sdnkhya,  founded  by  Kapila  (sixth  century 
B.  C.).  This  is  a dualistic  system  according  to  which  the 
universe  consists  of  two  ultimate,  disparate  kinds  of  being, 
viz.,  a self-evolving  material  nature  (prakriti)  and  an  end- 
less number  of  individual  personal  souls  (purusha).  The 
existence  of  a supreme  creator  or  ruler  of  the  universe  is 
expressly  denied. 

(2)  The  Yoga  of  Pantanjali  (second  century  (B.  C.). 
This  teaches  a psychological  self-concentration  of  the  mind 
in  order  to  isolate  it  from  matter,  and  posits  a supreme  soul 
with  which  the  human  soul  comes  into  union.  Thus  is  the 
atheistic  Sankhya  converted  into  a nominal  theism. 

(3)  The  Mimansa  or,  properly,  Purva  Mimansa,  by  Jai- 
mini.  This  is  hardly  a philosophy  at  all,  but  the  orthodox 
theological  interpretation  of  the  \’’eda  as  being  eternal  and 
uncreated. 

(4)  The  Uttara  Mimansa  or  Vedanta.  This  inculcates 
the  theory  of  absolute  non-duality  or  pure  pantheism,  which 
denies  the  reality  of  all  substances  except  the  absolute  Soul, 
Brahma,  everything  else  being  the  product  of  illusion  (maya) 
and  ignorance  (azndya).  This  system  was  later  formulated 
in  the  sutras  of  Badarayana  and  was  completed  by  Sankara 


23 


II.  1.  (c)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 

(eighth  century  A.  D. ).  It  is  regarded  as  the  systematiza- 
tion of  the  principles  of  the  oldest  Upanishads. 

5.  The  Nyaya,  a very  detailed  and  acute  exposition  of 
formal  logic,  which  has  remained  the  foundation  of  phil- 
osophical studies  in  India  down  to  the  present  day. 

6.  The  Vaiseshika,  chiefly  noteworthy  as  an  atomistic 
philosophy.  The  whole  world  is  built  up  of  eternal,  primeval 
atoms,  both  material  and  psychical.  Although  both  the 
Nyaya  and  the  Vaiseshika  system  (dating  from  the  fourth 
or  fifth  century  A.  D.),  were  originally  atheistic,  yet  it  is 
noteworthy  that  both  of  them  subsequently  added  the  idea  of 
a personal  God  (though  not  as  the  creator  of  matter). 

Orthodoxy  in  India  has  nothing  to  do  with  theism.  The 
tests  of  orthodoxy  are  two,  viz. : the  acceptance  of  the  Veda 
as  authoritative  and  conformity  to  the  system  of  caste. 
Buddhism  and  Jainism  were  unorthodox  because  they  denied 
the  authority  of  the  V eda.  There  was  also  a purely  material- 
istic system  of  Charvaka  which  denied  transmigration  and 
any  means  of  salvation,  but  it  has  left  no  literary  remains. 

Of  the  six  orthodox  systems  the  two  most  influential  have 
always  been  the  Sankhya  and  the  Vedanta,  representing,  re- 
spectively, pure  dualism  and  pure  pantheism.  At  the  present 
day  the  Vedanta  is  almost  supreme;  its  adherents  include 
more  than  ninety  per  cent,  of  all  the  Indians  who  would 
classify  themselves  as  followers  of  a definite  system.  Yet 
the  pantheism  of  the  Upanishads,  which  was  interpreted  im- 
personally by  the  most  influential  later  expounder,  Sankara, 
was  also  interpreted  theistically  by  Ramanuja  (twelfth  cen- 
tury A.  D).  Many  Vedantists,  especially  those  of  South 
India,  belong  to  this  latter  school. 

(d)  Institutional  Brahmanism. — This  sacrificial  period 
gradually  developed  into  institutional  Brahmanism  where  a 
domestic  and,  preeminently,  a social  organization  and  the 
enforcement  of  its  demands  became  the  supreme  feature  and 
controlling  influence  of  Hinduism.  Thus  was  founded  the 


24 


DISTINCTIVE  FEATURES  OF  HINDUISM 


II.  1.  (f) 


most  compact  and  tyrannical  social  system  that  the  world 
has  known,  that  of  caste,  a system  which,  though  not  con- 
fined to  India,  has  here  attained  its  fullest  or  most  extreme 
development,  and  which  today  (after  twenty-five  centuries) 
continues  to  be  the  paramount  practical  feature  of  the  relig- 
ion of  the  Hindus. 

(e)  The  Buddhist  and  Jain  Reactions. — The  domineer- 
ing, unethical  authority  exercised  by  the  Brahman  priest- 
hood produced  in  the  sixth  century  B.  C.  two  vigorous  pro- 
tests led  by  devout,  self-sacrificing  princes.  Both  movements 
aimed  merely  to  secure  reform  within  Hinduism,  but  both 
were  so  opposed  by  the  Brahmans  that  they  developed  into 
independent  organizations.  Gautama,  the  Buddha  (“En- 
lightened One”),  started  an  ethical  self-culture  movement 
which  in  time  became  the  first  great  missionary  movement 
in  the  whole  world.  Buddhism  was  dominant  in  India  for 
a thousand  years,  and  it  has  won  large  adherence  in  China, 
Japan  and  throughout  the  East;  but  it  has  been  practically 
ousted  from  the  land  of  its  birth. 

Mahavira,  the  Jina  (“Victorious  One”),  led  an  ascetic 
movement  to  emancipate  the  human  spirit  from  the  encum- 
brance of  the  body.  While  Jainism  now  numbers  a million 
and  a quarter  adherents  in  India,  it  is  gradually  diminishing 
both  in  its  numbers  and  in  its  differentiation  from  Hinduism. 

Thus  has  Hinduism  survived  internal  vicissitudes  and 
maintained  its  essential  Brahman-ridden  caste  system,  while 
adding  many  non-Brahmanical  features,  such  as  the  doctrine 
of  the  Hindu  Triad  and  a multitudinous  pantheon. 

(f)  The  Doctrine  of  Incarnation. — A fresh  development 
was  the  doctrine  of  Incarnation.  This  doctrine,  which  in 
Hinduism  means  the  repeated  appearance  of  deity,  visiting 
the  earth  for  some  special  purpose,  was  set  forth  in  a beau- 
tiful and  impressive  way  in  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  and  thus 
gained  wide  currency  over  all  India.  It  is  today  an  out- 
standing feature  of  modern  Hinduism.  Doubtless  the  ex- 


II.  1.  (f)  PRESENTING  CHRISTI.ANIT V TO  HINDUS 


quisite  beauty  of  that  literary  gem,  which  is  set  as  one  of  the 
chapters  of  the  great  epic,  the  Mahabharata,  was  effective  in 
the  early  popularizing  of  the  doctrine.  For  Brahmanism 
had  hitherto  been  defective  in  its  method  of  bringing  the 
pantheon  home  to  the  people,  and  had  failed  to  endear  the 
gods  to  their  worshipers. 

(g)  Modern  Hindu  Cults. — In  modern  times  the  doc- 
trine of  the  emanations  of  Siva  and  the  incarnations  of 
Vishnu  has  given  rise  to  the  modern  cults  of  Hinduism — Sai- 
vism,  Vaishnavism,  and  Saktiism.  For  many  centuries  these 
three  cults  have  occupied  practically  the  whole  stage  in  the 
dramatic  history  of  Hinduism.  Saivism,  though  not  without 
a tender  side,  has  the  austerity  which  connects  it  chiefly  with 
the  animism  of  the  Dravidians  of  the  South.  It  represents 
Siva  not  only  as  the  great  ascetic,  the  unapproachable  one, 
but  also  as  the  source  of  the  destructive  agencies  and  the  dis- 
turbing influences  of  life.  He  is  also  the  quickener,  and  this 
is  the  meaning  of  that  common  symbol,  the  phallic  lingam. 
Vaishnavism  represents  the  mildness  and  goodness  and  love 
of  the  second  god  of  the  Triad,  and  thus  accounts  for  the  in- 
carnations or  “descents”  of  this  major  god  for  the  relief  of 
humanity.  Saktiism  is  the  worship  of  the  goddesses,  especi- 
ally the  wife  of  Siva  in  her  many  forms  and  characters;  she 
is  supposed  to  represent  the  active  principle  in  the  adminis- 
tration of  heavenly  and  human  affairs  as  distinct  from  the 
quiescent,  milder  nature  of  the  male  deities  to  whom  they 
belong.  For  centuries  the  worship  of  generative  force 
(Sakti)  was  practically  universal  in  India,  and  even  now 
wields  a great  influence  as  a form  of  worship. 

2.  The  Distinctive,  Permanent  Teachings  of  Hinduism. 
— The  prospective  missionary  should  also  study  the  Hindu 
faith  in  its  constant,  outstanding  teachings.  During  all  these 
manifold  processes  of  evolution  certain  central  doctrines  have 
always  characterized  Hinduism  and  its  promulgation,  though 
it  should  be  understood  that  only  the  more  intelligent  Hindus 


26 


distinctivp:  featukp:s  of  Hinduism 


II.  2.  (d) 


have  had  any  adequate  grasp  of  them.  Among  these  doc- 
trines are  the  following: 

(a)  Pantheism. — The  doctrine  that  man  and  the  material 
and  spiritual  universe  are  only  manifestations  of  an  ultimate 
It,  absolute  and  unknowable,  has  been  strongly  held  by  Hin- 
duism through  all  its  history.  No  other  people  than  the 
Hindus  ever  cherished  for  so  long  a time  a monism  which  is 
so  unqualified  and  thorough-going  as  this  of  India. 

(b)  Polytheism  and  Idolatry. — Although  the  earliest 
form  of  historical  Hinduism,  Vedism,  was  manifestly  poly- 
theistic, yet  it  was  aniconic.^  However,  as  a correlate  of 
Hindu  pantheism  there  has  been  a polytheistic  development 
into  the  most  myriad-headed  pantheon  of  the  world,  includ- 
ing literally  millions  of  deities.  Out  of  this  polytheism  has 
grown  a gross  and  debasing  idolatry  which  has  today  be- 
come the  most  obtrusive  and  offensive  feature  of  popular 
Hinduism. 

(c)  The  Doctrine  of  Karma  and  Transmigration. — Un- 
der all  the  changes  of  the  Hindu  faith  the  idea  of  retributive 
justice,  according  to  merit  or  desert  {karma),  has  been  ac- 
knowledged by  the  Indian  mind.  Since  early  days  the 
controlling  power  of  destiny  and  the  certainty  of  retribution 
have,  through  this  doctrine  of  Karma  and  transmigration, 
been  strongly  emphasized.  Only  by  pantheistic  knowledge 
can  a man,  or  even  a god,  escape  the  eating  of  the  full 
fruitage  of  his  past  life.  The  “uttermost  farthing”  must  be 
paid,  even  though  millions  of  rebirths  may  be  required  to 
satisfy  such  relentless  justice. 

(d)  The  Eternity  of  the  Universe. — Hinduism  has,  for 
many  centuries,  denied  the  doctrine  of  creation.  Yet  it  has 
recognized  as  applied  to  life  the  activity  of  the  creative  prin- 
ciple personified  in  Brahma.  In  its  three  main  philosophies 
it  has  held  definitely  to  the  teaching  that  whatever  is,  has 
existed  from  eternity,  and  will  continue  unto  eternity, 

* It  was  in  Buddhism  not  later  than  the  fourth  century  B.  C.  that  artistic  efforts  first 
appeared  in  the  fashioning  of  images  of  the  Master. 

27 


II.  2.  (d)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 

whether  it  be  in  the  form  of  the  illusion  {may a)  of  the  Ve- 
danta, the  elemental  nature  {prakriti)  of  the  Sankhya,  or 
the  atoms  of  the  Vaiseshika  philosophy. 

(e)  The  Reabsorption  of  the  Individual. — While  some 
thoughtful  Hindus  reject  the  doctrine  of  the  absorption  of 
the  soul  of  man  into  the  divine  soul,  yet  Hinduism  in  its 
prevailing  form  teaches  that  such  absorption  is  the  last  and 
highest  stage  of  existence,  involving  a state  of  absolute  un- 
consciousness and  impersonality.  It  means  the  elimination 
of  all  that  we  usually  associate  with  personality,  viz. : the 
manly,  noble  life  and  individual  initiative.  The  Hindu,  how- 
ever, denies  that  the  soul  or  self  is  robbed  of  any  valuable 
content, — on  the  ground  that  it  never  has  possessed  any 
intrinsic  worth. 

3.  The  Eclecticism  of  Hinduism. — Hinduism  is  also  a 
faith  preeminently  eclectic  in  its  character  and  remarkably 
assimilative  in  its  spirit.  It  chooses  whatever  may  appeal  to 
it  from  without,  and  takes  unto  itself  teachings  and  charac- 
teristics from  all  sources  whatever.  It  has  adopted  many  of 
the  important  teachings,  of  its  opponent.  Buddhism;  even 
the  Buddha  was  admitted  to  have  been  an  incarnation  of  the 
Hindu  god  Vishnu.  While  in  pre-Buddhistic  times  it  es- 
teemed sacrifice  above  all  else  as  a practice  of  saving  efficacy, 
yet  it  yielded  to  Buddha’s  aversion  to  the  shedding  of  blood 
and  in  later  times  abandoned  practically  all  blood  sacrifices  in 
its  temples.  Even  today  there  is  no  blood  sacrifice  in  Aryan 
Hindu  temples.  “ This  statement  holds  true  even  though  ani- 
mal blood  flows  freely  in  some  of  Siva’s  temples  and  in  nearly 
all  temples  of  Siva’s  wife,  whether  called  Durga,  Kali,  Bha- 
vani,  or  Vindhyavasini.  This  last  may  be  attributed  to  the 
Dravidian  origin  and  spirit  of  this  cult.  Indeed,  where  anim- 
ism or  demonolatry  prevailed,  Hinduism  adopted,  along  with 
the  temples  and  shrines  of  the  people,  the  rites  and  practices 
of  devil  worship,  including  blood  sacrifice,  which  is  empha- 
sized up  to  the  present  time. 


28 


DISTINCTIVE  FEATURES  OF  HINDUISM 


II.  4. 


Hinduism  has  even  adopted  not  a little  from  Mohamme- 
danism, There  is  in  North  India  an  “Allah  Upanishad.”  It 
has  even  been  a borrower  from  Christianity.  To  what  ex- 
tent this  is  true,  is  still  a matter  of  discussion ; but  several  of 
its  most  popular  ideas,  such  as  faith  or  devotion  (bhakti) 
and  incarnation  {avatar),  have  found  encouragement  in  the 
Christianity  which  was  introduced  into  South  India  perhaps 
fifteen  centuries  ago. 

4.  The  Essential  Nature  of  Hinduism. — A natural  and 
frequent  query  concerns  the  absolute  essentials  of  this  faith, 
professed  by  so  many  millions  of  the  human  race.  There  is, 
however,  no  doctrine,  rite,  or  ceremony  which  can  be  called 
an  essential  part  of  it.^  Not  a belief  in  doctrines,  but  a con- 
formity to  certain  customs  and  institutions  enables  one  posi- 
tively to  call  himself  a Hindu.  There  are  only  two  abso- 
lutely necessary  qualifications  for  membership  in  Hindu  so- 
ciety today, — subordination  to  the  Brahman,  and  membership 
in  an  organized  caste. ^ This  membership  in  a caste  may  be 
acquired  by  an  individual  only  through  birth,  and  by  a com- 
munity by  transforming  itself  into  a Hindu  caste,  as  was  done 
by  some  old,  aboriginal  tribes.  Brahmanical  and  caste  domi- 
nance are  the  two  things  to  which  every  Hindu  must  submit ; 
in  other  respects  he  has  very  great  freedom.  Yet  it  is  recog- 
nized that  a “holy  man”  or  a “szvami”  may  with  impunity 
defy  the  imposition  of  caste. 

Among  other  characteristic  features  of  Hindu  society  are 

^ The  Leader  of  Allahabad  invited  twenty-five  leading  Hindus  (including  four  Knights  of 
the  British  realm,  two  justices  of  the  High  Court,  members  of  Legislative  Councils,  etc.,  all 
with  some  degree  or  title)  to  answer  the  question,  ‘‘What  are  the  beliefs  and  practices  indi^ 
pensable  in  one  professing  the  Hindu  faith?**  The  answers  were  published  in  a pamphlet  entitled 
“Essentials  of  Hinduism**  (Natesan,  Madras,  8 annas),  which  contains  the  following  opinions 
from  leading  Hindus:  “Hindu  society  now  practically  admits  within  its  pale  all  persons 

who  are  Hindus  by  birth,  whatever  their  beliefs  and  practices  may  be,  provided  they  have 
not  openly  abjured  Hinduism,  or  married  outside  Hindu  society**  (p.  1).  “Every  belief 
or  practice  that  is  considered  absolutely  necessary  by  the  Hindus  of  one  corner  of  India  is 
unknown  or  ignored  by  those  of  some  other  corner**  (p.  7).  “I  have  not  been  able  to  find 
any  real  essentials  of  Hinduism  in  belief  or  practice.  I do  not  think  the  belief  in  the  Vedas 
or  respect  for  Brahmans  is  an  essential  of  Hinduism’*  (p.  45). 

J Farquhar,  in  his  book,  “A  Primer  of  Hinduism”  in  chapter  XIV.  on  “What  It  Is  to  Be 
a Hindu  Today”  (p.  177)  holds  that  there  are  these  two  essentials,  viz:  birth  and  conformity. 
“In  order  to  be  a Hindu,  a man  must  have  been  born  in  one  of  the  social  groups  which 
historically  have  become  associated  together  in  Hinduism,  chiefly  under  Brahman  supervision, 
and  which  are  known  as  castes.  In  order  to  remain  a Hindu,  a man  born  in  Hinduism  must 
conform  to  the  usages  of  the  group  in  which  he  was  born.** 


29 


II.  4. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


a belief  in  the  divine  origin  and  authority  of  the  Vedas  and 
a reverence  for  sacred  animals,  especially  the  cow.  Theo- 
retically the  outcastes,  who  comprise  twenty-five  per  cent,  of 
the  population,  have  not  been  recognized  as  Hindus  by  the 
higher  caste  Hindus.^  To  the  missionary,  however,  and  to 
the  British  administration  they  fall  within  the  scope  of  Hin- 
duism. 

The  social  system  which  controls  Hindu  society  and  which 
is  buttressed  by  religious  sanctions  of  the  most  imperative 
nature  is  twenty-five  centuries  old.  It  exalts  the  social  cor- 
porate body,  and  subjects  the  individual  man  to  helpless  bond- 
age. It  gives  him  neither  initiative  nor  appeal  in  the  realm 
of  social  or  of  religious  ethics.  His  every  attempt  to  assert 
himself,  to  claim  individual  freedom  or  to  express  conscien- 
tious scruples,  is  summarily  crushed.  This  social  system, 
while  it  dominates  the  whole  individual  and  social  life  of  man, 
is,  nevertheless,  fundamentally  religious,  since  its  sanctions 
and  its  penalties  are  religious.  They  are  relentlessly  enforced 
by  the  organized  caste  to  which  he  belongs.  A man  who  is 
banned  by  his  caste  is  the  most  helpless  and  hopeless  of  indi- 
viduals, both  here  and  hereafter.  The  caste  organization  has 
a thousand  eyes  which  relentlessly  follow  him,  prying  into 
his  whole  life,  and  a thousand  hands  which  are  ever  ready  to 
scourge  him  into  obedience.  However,  advancing  civiliza- 
tion and  a progressive  social  conscience  are  already  affecting 
the  demands  of  caste  and  considerably  weakening  its 
authority.^ 

This  institution  of  caste,  if  its  laws  were  chiefly  ethical 
with  punishments  for  immoral  conduct,  might  be  regarded 
as  serving  a useful  purpose.  Historically  caste  has  enforced, 
and  still  enforces,  certain  standards  which  are  not  without  a 
degree  of  ethical  value;  yet  it  practically  ignores  the  realm  of 

' The  establishment  of  the  Provincial  and  National  Legislative  Councils  in  1909  led  to 
a remarkable  alteration  in  the  attitude  of  many  leading  Hindus,  who  thenceforth  claimed  all 
the  outcastes  as  proper  Hindus,  in  order  to  secure  increased  representation  in  the  pro-rata 
composition  of  the  new  system  of  political  self-government. 

^ For  remarkable  quotations  from  Indian  sources  expressing  strong  condemnation  of  caste 
see  Farquhar,  "The  Crown  of  Hinduism,”  pp.  174  ff. 


30 


DISTINCTIVE  FEATURES  OF  HINDUISM  II.  5. 

moral  law,  and  exacts  obedience  to  forms  and  ritual  sane 
tioned  largely  by  ancient  habit. 

5.  Modern  Reform  Movements  in  Hinduism. — The  re- 
form movements  of  the  present  day  are  significant  features 
of  Hinduism.  Dr.  Farquhar,  in  his  recent  book,  “Modern 
Religious  Movements  in  India,”  dwells  upon  as  many  as 
thirty  of  the  most  important  among  the  numerous  religious 
and  social  movements  which  are  in  some  way  or  other 
connected  with,  or  derived  from,  Hinduism,  and  influence 
not  a little  its  life  and  thought.^  They  reveal  the  fact  that 
modern  life  has  thrust  upon  this  people  a bewildering  num- 
ber of  new  religious  ideals  and  ambitions;  it  has  presented 
to  their  minds  novel  religious  claims,  which  are  demanding 
attention  and  promulgation,  and  which  are  producing  a 
growing  religious  and  social  and  racial  unrest  among  all 
classes.  India  is  teeming  with  religious  reforms,  which  are 
moving  at  all  angles  to  the  ancestral  faith.  Some  of  these, 
such  as  the  Brahma  Samaj,  are  strongly  animated  by  Chris- 
tian principles  and  ideals,  though  clinging  to  many  of  the  an- 
cestral forms  of  religion.  Others,  like  the  Arya  Samaj,  are 
less  radical  in  their  spirit  of  reform;  and  are  opposed  strenu- 
ously to  Christianity;  but  they  are,  nevertheless,  a serious 
menace  to  orthodox  Hinduism.  Some,  like  the  Rama-Krish- 
na  cult,  are  ultra-conservative  and  reactionary  in  their  spirit ; 
but  they  contribute  to  the  restlessness  of  the  popular  mind  in 
matters  of  faith. 

Theosophy  is  the  only  modern  semi-religious  movement 
which  has  been  thrust  upon  the  Hindu  people  from  without. 
It  has  found  its  opportunity  through  the  facts  that  it  ac- 
cepts some  of  the  fundamental  principles  of  Brahmanism 
and  that  it  assumes  an  attitude  of  uncompromising  hostility 
to  Christianity.  It  has  catered  very  much  to  a reactionary 
spirit  among  many  of  the  educated ; and  it  has  worked  hard  to 
rehabilitate  certain  gross,  superstitious  elements  of  Hindu- 


' See  also  Pratt’s  more  recent  “India  and  Its  Faiths”  (150). 


II.  5. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY'  TO  HINDUS 


ism.  Today  it  has  ceased  to  claim  that  it  is  a religion,  as- 
serting that  it  is  merely  “an  amalgam”  to  cement  all  faiths 
together,  on  the  assumption  that,  as  “all  roads  lead  to  Rome,” 
so  all  religions  lead  to  God 

Social  reform  movements  are  becoming  increasingly  ag- 
gressive. They  are  doing  much  to  overthrow  the  hoary  insti- 
tutions of  the  land  and  to  bring  in  a new  era  of  social  better- 
ment, of  human  rights,  of  political  privileges,  and  of  personal 
equality.  At  present  the  area  of  Indian  life  which  has  been 
touched  by  the  new  influences  is  tiny  in  comparison  with  the 
whole  population.  However,  as  fresh  seed  is  being  sown 
in  India  these  social  reform  movements  are  of  immense  po- 
tency and  promise,  even  though  the  full  fruitage  is  still  far 
off.  A new  era  of  social  service  has  also  dawned  upon 
the  land.  The  attitude  of  cooperation  and  helpfulness  which 
has  always  prevailed  within  the  limits  of  a caste  is  now  begin- 
ning to  transcend  those  limits;  it  is  leading  the  Hindus  to 
participate  in  organized  activity  for  the  betterment  of  larger 
groups,  especially  for  the  realization  of  the  new  national 
self-consciousness  of  India,  and  for  the  removal  of  many  un- 
just, inherited  limitations. 

These  new  movements  are  due  chiefly  to  Western  influ- 
ences, among  which  Christianity  is  manifestly  the  most  im- 
portant.°  They  mean  that  the  spirit  of  Christ  has  begun  so  to 
permeate  Hindu  society  that  leaders  are  striving  to  remove 
some  of  the  most  unchristian  elements  in  Hinduism,  and  that 
these  Hindu  reformers  are  so  far  forth  cooperating  with  the 
missionary  in  one  side  of  his  task.  Of  course  the  great  trans 
formation  is  the  result  of  the  interaction  of  all  the  larger 
world  contacts  with  the  wonderful  potentialities  of  Indian 
life.  In  the  intricate  process  it  is  difficult  throughout  to  dis- 
criminate the  influences  which  have  sprung  directly  from 

' The  most  reliable  and  thorough  expose  of  Theosophy  is  in  Farquhar’s  "Modern  Re- 
ligious Movements  in  India,”  pp.  208-291. 

^ See  the  testimony  of  Sir  Narayan  Chandavakar  quoted  by  Farquhar,  “Modern  Religious 
Movements,”  p.  445.  "The  ideas  that  lie  at  the  heart  of  the  gospel  of  Christ  are  slowly 
but  surely  permeating  every  part  of  Hindu  society  and  modifying  every  phase  of  Hindu 
thougir 


32 


DISTINCTIVE  FEATURES  OF  HINDUISM  III.  1.  (a) 


the  Christian  religion  and  the  influences  which  have  come 
from  what  is  inclusively  called  “Western  civilization.”  But 
the  missionary  may  definitely  believe  that  the  share  of  Chris- 
tianity has  been  so  great  and  real  that  he  is  more  than  justi- 
fied in  carrying  forward  the  whole  process  towards  a certain 
conclusion. 

With  these  essential  elements  of  Hinduism  and  with  the 
dififerent  stages  of  its  development  the  prospective  mission- 
ary should  seek  to  become  familiar.  Yet  it  may  well  be  added 
that  Hinduism  as  thus  described  is  Hinduism  in  its  higher 
aspects,  and  that  lower,  popular  Hinduism  is  largely  animis- 
tic and  full  of  superstition.  In  many  parts  of  India  it  is  the 
latter  which  will  chiefly  impress  the  new  missionary,  and  yet 
he  should  never  forget  the  existence  and  influence  of  Hindu- 
ism at  its  best. 

III.  Hinduism  and  Christianity  Related 

Christianity  is  now  the  third  largest  religious  community 
in  India.  Although  it  is  far  smaller  than  either  Hinduism  or 
Islam,  it  ranks  with  them  as  among  the  most  powerful  relig- 
ious forces  in  the  country.  The  missionary  must  learn  how 
to  relate  Hinduism  and  Christianity.  He  must  discover  and 
fully  realize  this  relationship  in  two  ways,  viz. : by  comparing 
their  common  elements,  and  by  considering  their  contrasts. 

1.  Their  Common  Elements  Compared. — There  are  in 
these  two  religions  certain  features  which  are  more  or  less 
common  to  both,  and  which  lend  themselves  to  a helpful  com- 
parison. 

(a)  Both  Are  Spiritual  Religions. — Hinduism  fiTMii  tlic 
first  has  glorified  spiritual,  as  distinct  from  material  forces. 
It  has  denied  the  real  existence  of  the  material  uni- 
verse. It  has  posited  a psychical  entity  as  the  sole  existent 
reality  in  the  universe.  Its  aims  are  potentially  spiritual  in 
its  aspirations  after  union  with  that  supreme  Soul.  Its  basal 


33 


III.  1.  (a)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


philosophy  and  system  of  ontolog}'  have  at  all  times,  and  in 
all  forms,  repudiated  and  fought  materialism.  More  even 
than  Christianity,  it  has  given  speculative  emphasis  to  the 
spirit,  even  to  the  denial  of  matter  in  all  its  forms. 

(b)  Each  Recognises  a Threefold  Conception  of  God. — In 
the  orthodox  Brahmanical  doctrine  of  the  Triad  {trimurti), 
Brahma  the  Absolute  manifests  itself  in  three  distinct  per- 
sons of  equal  rank,  Brahma  the  creator,  Vishnu  the  preserver, 
and  Siva  the  destroyer.  This  is  interesting  both  in  the  simi- 
larities and  in  the  differences  which  it  presents  to  the  Chris- 
tian doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  For  a long  period  in  the  history 
of  the  Hindu  faith  this  doctrine  of  the  Triad  has  been  a 
prominent  feature.  Yet  the  similarity  between  this  and  the 
Christian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  is  superficial  rather  than 
real.  The  missionary  should  take  care  never  to  be  carried 
away  by  surface  resemblances,  to  the  ignoring  of  fundamen- 
tal differences.  Hence,  while  he  should  be  familiar  with  this 
similarity,  it  will  rarely,  if  ever,  enter  into  his  preaching. 
Even  as  an  illustration  it  will  not  go  far  in  making  clear  to  the 
people  the  Christian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  for  the  three 
persons  of  the  Hindu  triad  are  popularly  regarded  tritheis- 
tically:  they  are  independent,  separate  gods,  believed  in  by 
different  sects.  Brahma  is  a god  who  was;  his  functions  are 
over.^  Siva  is  regarded  by  one  great  group  as  the  supreme 
deity  and  \'^ishnu  as  subordinate.  The  other  group  regards 
\’ishnu  as  supreme.  Their  union  into  one  godhead  is  merely 
a formal,  philosophical  theory. 

(c)  Each  Has  a Doctrine  of  Incarnation. — Christianity 
and  Hinduism  are  two  great  religions  which  have  exalted  to 
a unique  position  of  influence  the  idea  of  divine  incarnation. 
This  fact  suggests  an  easy  way  of  access  to  the  people.  But  a 
more  careful  study  will  also  show  what  a wide  gulf  separates 
the  ideas  as  expressed  in  each  religion.  Contrast  the  one 
great  incarnation  of  our  faith,  in  which  God  reveals  himself 

' Monier-Williams  in  his  “Brahmanism  and  Hinduism,*'  page  557,  reports  only  two 
temples  dedicated  to  Brahma  in  all  India. 


34 


HINDUISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY 


HI.  1.  (f) 


in  the  perfect  man,  Christ  Jesus,  with  the  numerous  avatars 
recognized  by  Hinduism,  some  of  which  are  puerile,  some 
fanciful,  and  some  morally  indefensible.^  Of  the  life  of  the 
chief  Hindu  incarnation  the  chronicler  could  only  say,  “Be- 
hold the  life  of  Krishna,  but  do  not  follow  in  his  steps.” 

(d)  Each  Has  a Certain  Idea  of  Atonement. — The  idea  of 
atonement  found  frequent  expression  in  the  earlier  period 
of  Brahmanism  in  the  ceremonial.  In  modern  Hinduism  an 
idea  of  atonement  is  approximated  by  the  doctrine  of  trans- 
migration, whereby  the  soul  in  each  birth  “eats  the  fruit”  of 
the  previous  life,  a life  of  which  he  neither  remembers  nor 
knows  anything.  Thus  atonement  is  possible  only  for  one’s 
own  past  sins,  not  for  the  redemption  of  others.  It  is  need- 
less to  add  that  in  Hinduism  there  is  nothing  really  equiva- 
lent, or  strictly  parallel,  to  the  Christian  idea  of  atonement. 

(e)  Each  Proclaims  and  Exalts  the  Doctrine  of  Faith. — 
The  doctrine  of  faith  or  devotion  (bhakti),  at  first  unde- 
veloped in  the  Brahmanical  religion,  has  now  become  a very 
great  force  in  Hinduism.  Here  that  religion  is  in  closer 
touch  with  Christianity  than  at  any  other  point,  and  this 
nearness  enables  the  missionary  to  present  a strong  plea  for 
the  Christian  conception.  “Bhakti”  has  grown  into  a loving 
devotion  to  a personal  deity,  Krishna  or  Rama.  There  are 
religous  enthusiasts  among  Hindus  as  among  Christians,  and 
to  such  their  faith  is  very  precious.  A winsome  presenta- 
tion of  Christ  as  the  perfect  object  for  loving  faith  and 
devotion  makes  an  appeal  to  the  most  responsive  side  of  the 
Hindu’s  religious  nature. 

(f)  Their  Teachings  Regarding  the  Future  Have  a Com- 
mon Basis. — Both  religions  teach  future  rewards  and  punish- 
ments. They  hold  the  present  life  and  the  future  life  to  be 
intimately  related  to  each  other  as  cause  and  effect.  The  doc- 
trine of  the  immortality  of  the  soul  is  held  positively,  and  with 

' It  should  be  known  by  the  missionary,  however,  that  the  best  of  Hindu  saints  like 
Natndev,  Eknath,  Tukaram  and  Ramdas,  have  come  to  be  recognized  as  avatars,  i.e.,  divine 
incarnations,  come  to  save  the  world. 


35 


III.  1.  (f)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 

no  questioning,  by  Hindus.  Here  again,  however,  the  two  re- 
ligions hold  their  belief  in  future  life  in  some  particulars  so 
variously  as  to  constitute  a contrast,  making  a careful  study 
into  the  dual  aspect  of  the  doctrine  very  necessary.  The 
Christian  conception  of  immortality,  by  which  the  soul  enters 
progressively  into  the  full  realization  of  fellowship  with  God, 
is  radically  different  from  the  Hindu  idea  of  absorption 
into  the  unconscious,  passionless  Absolute.  It  is  not,  how- 
ever, dissimilar  to  the  immortality  predicted  by  the  theistic 
Vedanta  of  Ramanuja. 

2.  The  Contrasts  Betiveen  Them. — A recognition  of  the 
important  differences  between  Hinduism  and  Christianity 
is  vital  to  the  most  intelligent  and  effective  missionary  effort 
with  Hindus.  For  example: 

(a)  One  is  Ethnic;  the  Other  Universal. — Hinduism  is 
a narrowly  national,  non-missionary  religion,  practically 
limited  to  the  land  of  India.^  Christianity  seeks  to  win  all 
the  inhabitants  of  the  world  into  the  brotherhood  of  mankind 
as  a great  family  of  God.  Some  subordinate,  originally  non- 
Hindu  tribes  have  been  incorporated  into  Hinduism,  but  only 
by  their  having  submitted  to  Brahman  domination  and  by 
taking  an  inferior  place  within  the  Hindu  caste  system. 
Christianity  has  actually  gone  forth  to  all  countries  and  in- 
vited all  peoples  of  all  races  without  distinction  or  favor. 

(b)  One  is  Eclectic;  the  Other  Has  a Definite  Faith. — A 
Hindu  may  believe  anything  about  any  subject  whatsoever, 
provided  he  does  not  break  caste ; actually  among  the  Hindus 
there  are  not  only  polytheists  and  pantheists,  but  also  atheists 
and  theists.  Christians,  on  the  contrary,  hold  Christ  as  their 
unvarying  standard  of  faith,  supreme  above  all  other  possible 
ideals.  One  of  the  subtle  dangers  to  aggressive  Christianity 

'One  of  the  most  remarkable  developments  of  the  European  war  is  the  new  world 
outlook  which  has  been  forced  upon  Hindus.  Note  the  title  of  the  book  written  in  1916  by 
Hirendravath  Maitra  with  a foreword  by  Gilbert  Chesterton,  entitled  “Hinduism  the 
World  Ideal.”  Note  also  the  org^anization  at  the  time  of  the  new  moon  of  July,  1917,  of 
"The  Hindu  Missionary  Society,”  based  on  the  three  fundamental  principles  that  (1)  Every- 
one is  a Hindu  who  wishes  to  be  called  so;  (2)  Anyone  may  become  a Hindu;  and  (3)  All 
Hindus  are  on  an  equal  status.  Each  one  of  these  principles  is  radically  opposed  to  orthodox 
Hinduism. 


36 


HINDUISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY 


III.  2.  (e) 


in  India  is  the  idea  that  both  Hinduism  and  Christianity  can 
be  tolerated  on  mutually  accommodating  terms. 

(c)  Entrance  to  One  is  Automatic;  to  the  Other  Volun- 
tary.— Birth  in  any  recognized  caste  is  the  only,  and  the  all- 
sufficient,  method  by  which  an  individual  Hindu  gains  re- 
ligious status.  In  order  to  become  a Christian,  in  whatever 
social  group  he  may  have  been  born,  a person  must  himself 
decide  to  live  as  a follower  of  Christ,  and  he  must  expressly 
confess  this  self-dedication.  Amid  the  vague  thinking  which 
is  done  in  India,  there  is  special  need  of  emphasizing  the 
distinction  that  the  process  of  becoming  a Christian  by  de- 
liberate choice  is  radically  different  from  the  process  of  be- 
coming a Hindu  by  involuntary  inheritance. 

(d)  Their  Teachings  About  God  Are  Antipodal. — Their 
conceptions  of  God  are  as  far  apart  as  the  poles.  Christian- 
ity is  a personal  monotheism,  while  Hinduism  is  mainly  a 
vague  pantheism,  the  popular  expression  of  which  is  hydra- 
headed polytheism,  which  in  its  turn  has  brought  forth  a 
gross  idolatry.  Polytheism  is  the  legitimate  and  inevitable 
complement  of  the  Vedantism  of  Indian  thought;  and  the 
idol  worship,  which  is  so  universally  and  markedly  debasing, 
is  the  prevalent  and  not  illogical  expression  of  that  poly- 
theism. 

It  must  not,  however,  be  forgotten  that  while  pantheism 
has  always  represented  the  deepest  current  of  thought  and 
the  highest  mystic  aspiration  of  Brahmanism,  old  and  new, 
yet  theistic  conceptions  and  practices  have  found  wide,  even 
if  vague  and  debased,  prevalence  at  all  times.  The  qualified 
monism  of  Ramanuja  and  the  philosophy  of  many  Vaish- 
navite  and  Saivite  saints  show  that  speculative  Vedantism 
has  never  fully  satisfied  the  popular  heart  and  mind  of  India. 
Many  of  the  best  hymns  of  Hinduism  are  definitely  theistic 
in  their  expression  and  spirit.^ 

(e)  Their  Doctrines  Concerning  the  Universe  Are  Di- 

> For  examples  see  Farquhar’s  "Primer  of  Hinduism”  (pp.  124,  125);  Muir’s  “Metrical 
Translations”  (40),  or  Cover’s  "Folk  Songs”  (276). 

37 


III.  2.  (e)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 

vergent. — In  Hinduism,  which  has  not  only  produced,  but 
also  accredited,  both  a dualistic  and  a monistic  cosmology, 
the  universe  is  either  a bare  fact  of  existence  or  else  is  an 
illusion.  In  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  the  universe  is 
interpreted,  according  to  whatever  type  of  metaphysics,  as 
the  expression  of  divine  intelligence  and  activity.  Although 
Hinduism  has  freely  recognized  a certain  creative  principle 
in  the  universe,  yet  in  no  department  of  its  varied  philosoph- 
ical systems  has  it  the  Christian  doctrine  of  a purposeful, 
benevolent  creation. 

(f)  Their  Doctrines  of  the  Soul  Are  Different,  Both 
Philosophically  and  Ethically. — Even  in  those  forms  of  Hin- 
duism where  the  soul  is  regarded  as  real  txiere  is  no  supreme 
God.  According  to  the  prevalent  Vedantic  pantheism,  where 
the  sub-stratum  of  the  human  soul  is  to  be  regarded  as  iden- 
tical with  the  supreme  impersonal  Brahma,  the  human  mind 
and  will  and  all  ordinary  experience  are  illusory.  For  all 
Hindus  the  highest  aim  is  to  be  freed  from  the  miseries  or 
the  illusions  of  mind  and  body,  and  to  pass  into  the  undis- 
criminating (if  not  unconscious)  calm  of  ultimate  existence. 

In  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  the  human  soul  is  real, 
made  in  the  image  of  God,  set  temporarily  in  the  midst  of  a 
world  with  real  experience,  capable  either  of  marvelous  good 
or  of  heinous  evil,  according  to  one’s  own  deliberate  choice, 
but  intended  for  joyful  personal  communion  with  the  perfect 
Spirit  God. 

(g)  Their  Doctrines  of  Sin  Are  Antithetical. — To  the 
philosophic  Hindu  sin  is  intellectual,  due  to  the  ignorance 
of  the  soul’s  relationship  to  the  Divine  Soul;  the  process 
of  getting  rid  of  sin  has  always  been  to  the  Brahman  a form 
of  intellectual  gymnastics.  In  Hinduism  sin  is  mainly  a 
ceremonial  negligence  of  traditional  worship  or  of  caste 
conventions.  In  Christianity,  on  the  other  hand,  sin  is  essen- 
tially an  ethical  condition,  a conscious  violation  of  God’s  will 


38 


HINDUISM  AND  CHRISTIANITY 


III.  2.  (j) 


by  man.  It  is  eminently  an  act  of  ethical,  not  of  intellectual 
or  ceremonial,  significance. 

(h)  Their  Processes  of  Redemption  Are  Diverse. — In 
Hinduism  there  is  a four-fold  path  of  redemption.  The  low- 
est {karma-marga)  is  the  way  of  works,  or  the  observance 
of  ritual  and  caste  rules.  Next  is  the  higher  realm  of  faith 
or  devotion  (bhakti),  which  is  more  difficult  of  attainment. 
Beyond  and  above  the  pathway  of  faith  lies  the  way  of  ascetic 
rigor  (yoga),  which  is  open  only  to  the  few.  The  supreme 
way  is  the  way  of  knowledge  (Bralimajhana) , which  leads 
to  supreme  and  final  union  with  the  Divine.  According  to 
the  orthodox  view,  only  one  illumined  with  divine  knowledge 
can  achieve  this  highest  means  of  salvation,  and  all  other 
ways  are  only  preliminary  to  this,  the  final  way  of  emanci- 
pation. But  to  the  devout  worshiper  of  Rama  or  Krishna, 
as  to  the  Christian,  the  way  of  full  and  final  redemption  is 
simple  and  accessible  to  everyone,  however  humble. 

(i)  Their  Estimates  of  Personality  Are  Opposed. — The 
ultimate  good  achieved  by  these  two  religions  furnishes  an- 
other contrast.  Christianity  conserves  the  worthful,  per- 
sonal identity  of  the  soul,  and  brings  it  into  close  union  and 
blessed  fellowship  with  the  Divine,  the  Perfect  Person.  Hin- 
duism seeks  and  guarantees  the  absolute  loss  of  personal 
identity  of  character,  of  consciousness,  and  of  all  else  which 
makes  for  a glorified  humanity. 

( j ) Their  Conceptions  of  Social  Life  and  Service  Are  Di- 
vergent.— Because  the  true  follower  of  Christ  regards  the 
world  as  God’s  world,  in  which  men  are  being  trained  for 
a fuller  life  in  fellowship  with  the  loving  Father,  therefore 
he  gives  himself  to  disinterested  social  service.  The  ortho- 
dox Hindu  understands  that  the  world  is  either  eternal  or 
is  an  illusion,  that  continued  personal  existence  is  the  regret- 
table result  of  innumerable  deeds  committed  in  a previous 
existence,  and  that  the  ultimate  goal  is  the  loss  of  personal 
identity  in  the  Divine;  therefore  he  has  logically  taken  little 

39 


111.  2.  (j)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


interest  in  unselfish  helpfulness  for  others.  To  the  Chris- 
tian the  world  is  a place  for  establishing  the  kingdom  of  God; 
to  the  Hindu  it  is  a place  of  punishment.  Even  the  latter, 
however,  is  beginning  to  graft  upon  his  religion  the  concep- 
tion of  social  service  as  a duty,  which  he  has  derived  from 
the  followers  of  Christ. 

This  statement  of  some  of  the  similarities  and  contrasts 
between  the  beliefs  of  the  Hindu  and  the  beliefs  of  the  Chris- 
tian should  not  close  without  a renewed  declaration  that  in 
actual  missionary  work  the  new  missionary  may  fail  to  find 
among  the  majority  of  the  people  much  acquaintance  with 
the  doctrines  of  orthodox  Hinduism,  and  yet  they  are  in  the 
background,  and  should  be  known  to  the  Christian  worker. ‘ 

IV.  The  Literature  of  Hinduism. 

The  literature  of  a people  is  a mirror  of  its  life  and 
thought  and  the  expression  of  its  faith.  For  more  than  three 
thousand  years  the  Hindu  people  have  voiced  through  their 
varied  and  extensive  literature  their  spiritual  aspirations  and 
their  religious  speculations.  These  ideals  appear  in  song 
and  in  prayers,  in  speculations  and  in  philosophies,  in  ritual 
and  in  social  code,  in  legend  and  in  myth,  in  drama  and  in 
epic,  in  proverbs  and  in  moral  instruction,  in  mystic  lore  and 
in  ecstatic  rhapsody.  Together  they  express  and  encourage 
almost  all  the  varieties  of  human  thought  and  of  religious 
emotion  and  yearning.  An  acquaintance  with  the  broad  out- 
line of  this  literature  is  an  important  element  in  the  prepara- 
tion for  work  among  Hindus." 

'The  foregoing  antitheses  seem  to  some  to  be  doing  less  than  justice  to  the  Hindu; 
they  express,  however,  actual,  if  not  theoretical,  Hinduism. 

s The  following  remark  in  Frazer’s  “Literary  History  of  India,’’  p.  312,  is  worth  re- 
peating: “To  the  missionary  who  is  unacquainted  with  the  Vedanta,  with  the  spirit  of  true 

mysticism  underlying  the  worship  of  Krishna,  with  the  Ramayana  of  Tulsi  Das,  with  the 
quatrains  of  the  Naladiyar,  the  task  set  before  him  is  always  one  that  must  lack  somewhat 
of  its  full  promise  of  success.  He  cannot  throw  aside  literature  such  as  the  Indian  people 
love  and  cherish  as  though  it  were  nothing  but  folly  and  superstition.  Of  the  best  of  the 
Dravidian  as  well  as  the  .Aryan  literature  it  can  be  said  in  the  words  of  the  learned  scholar 
and  missionary  [Dr.  Pope]  who  has  assimilated  the  language  and  the  thought  of  the  people 
of  the  South  as  though  they  were  his  own  that  ‘there  seems  to  be  a strong  sense  of  moral 
obligation,  an  earnest  aspiration  after  righteousness,  a fervent  and  unselfish  eharitv  and  gen- 
erally a loftiness  of  aim  that  are  very  impressive.’  ’’ 

40 


HINDU  LITERATURE 


IV.  2. 


Some  of  the  striking  features  of  this  literature  should  be 
appreciated  by  the  student : 

1.  Its  Divine  Inspiration. — The  literature  of  Hinduism 
is  held  by  the  people  to  be,  in  the  highest  sense,  divinely 
inspired.  The  oldest  books  of  the  faith,  such  as  the  ancient 
Vedas,  the  Brahmanas,  and  the  Upanishads  are  called  Sruti, 
and  are  supposed  to  be  the  direct  revelation  of  God.  They 
are  not  only  infallible,  but  are  also  the  very  breath  of  Brahma, 
the  creator,  to  question  the  inspiration  of  which  is  almost 
sacrilegious  for  any  Hindu. 

All  the  rest  of  their  numerous  sacred  books  constitute 
Smriti,  or  the  “traditions”  of  their  faith.  Among  all  classes, 
and  especially  among  the  common  people,  these  traditions 
wield  a much  larger  influence  at  the  present  time  than  do  the 
more  ancient  “revelation.”  Thus  their  doctrine  of  inspired 
scriptures  extends  further  and  deeper  in  its  influence  upon  the 
faith  of  the  people  than  does  the  kindred  Christian  doctrine. 
Even  in  its  lowest  depths  this  religious  literature,  however 
debasing  it  may  be,  is  regarded  as  being  produced  under  di- 
vine guidance.  The  illiteracy  of  the  mass  of  the  people 
makes  impossible  any  general  first-hand  acquaintance  witli 
this  literature,  and  even  among  the  educated  there  is  great 
ignorance  of  the  most  ancient  books. 

2.  Its  Voluminous  and  Varied  Character. — It  is  a re- 
markably voluminous  literature.  Its  ancient  tomes  are  multi- 
tudinous. The  two  great  epics  of  Hinduism,  the  Maha- 
bharata  and  the  Ramayana,  are  the  longest  in  the  world.  The 
former  consists  of  220,000  lines,^  and  is  a vast  encyclopedia 
of  tradition,  legend,  ethics  and  philosophy  with  much  that 
is  of  little  value.  Other  lengthy  volumes  of  Hindu  liter- 
ature are  bewildering  in  their  conflicting  thoughts  and  in 
their  legends  and  genealogies.  Together  they  make  up  the 
sacred  scriptures  of  the  Hindus;  but  few  are  able  to  read 
them,  much  less  to  harmonize  them  and  to  defend  their  wild 

’ The  /TInfid  of  Virgil  contains  9,000  lines,  the  Iliad  of  Homer  12,000,  the  Odyssey  KI.OOO 

41 


IV.  2. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


excesses  and  immoralities.  When  we  add  to  these  the  many 
other  books  written  by  Hindus  on  grammar  and  poetics, 
medicine  and  alchemy,  astronomy  and  astrology,  mathemat- 
ics and  physics  and  other  sciences  so-called,  they  reveal  a re- 
markable outreach  of  the  Hindu  mind  as  it  has  expressed 
itself  in  the  various  realms  of  thought  and  of  sentiment. 

3.  Its  Polyglot  Nature. — According  to  the  linguistic  sur- 
vey of  India,  made  at  the  last  official  census,*  about  one 
hundred  and  thirty  indigenous  dialects  are  spoken  in  India, 
belonging  to  six  distinct  families  of  speech.  Many  of  these 
have  contributed  their  share  to  the  maze  of  Hindu  literature 
now  extant.  The  Sanskrit  is  the  mother  tongue  of  Aryan 
India  and  of  Hinduism.  As  such  its  literature  is  the  first 
source  of  authority,  as  well  as  the  richest  in  all  forms  of 
Hindu  lore.  Though  it  is  not  the  folk-speech  of  any  part 
of  India,  it  has  persisted  as  the  scholastic  tongue,  and  it  con- 
tinues to  be  the  religious  lingua  Franca  of  the  country.  Books 
are  still  produced,  even  magazines  are  published  in  Sanskrit 
upon  varied  subjects  of  religious  interest. 

Not  a few  of  the  other  tongues  are  rich  in  literature ; and, 
along  with  the  Sanskrit,  they  are  expressive  of  deep  religious 
thought,  while  often  voicing  the  wild  vagaries  of  religious 
sentiment.  Among  Aryan  languages  Hindi,  Bengali,  Ma- 
rathi and  a few  others  stand  conspicuous  in  the  multitude 
of  their  books  and  of  their  periodical  literature.  In  South 
India,  among  the  Dravidian  languages,  the  Tamil,  the  Te- 
lugu  and  the  Canarese  vernaculars  are  the  most  rich  and  pro- 
lific in  books  and  possess  the  best  literature.  It  is  beyond 
the  ability  of  any  one  man  to  investigate  the  extent  and 
the  variety  of  these  literatures,  or  even  to  read  more  than  a 
small  part  of  them. 

* “Census  of  India,  1911,”  vol.  I.,  Part  I.,  pp.  2,  3,  319-337. 

“ The  last  Decennial  Statement  and  Comparison  of  the  Moral  and  Material  Progress  of 
India  (Parliamentary  Report  for  1913)  states  on  page  362  that  the  number  of  new  books 
puhlished  during  the  last  year  reported  was  11,584,  of  newspapers  659,  and  of  other  periodicals 
2.269.  “Among  the  subjects  dealt  with  in  books,  religion  takes  the  first  place,  considerably 
ahead  of  poetry,  the  drama  and  language.  Fiction,  law,  history  and  biography,  medicine, 
mathematics  and  mechanics  and  philosophy  follow  with  much  smaller  totals.” 


42 


HINDU  LITERATURE 


IV.  5. 


4.  Its  Dominating  Religious  Note. — There  is  much  that 
is  of  real  religious  and  intellectual  value  in  the  literature  of 
Hinduism.  True  poetic  genius  and  religious  fervor  are  dis- 
played in  the  ancient  Vedic  songs  and  prayers.  The  ear- 
nest spirit  of  religious  speculation,  the  wonderful  dialectical 
skill  manifested  in  the  Upanishads,  and  the  subtleties  of  all 
the  six  philosophies  may  properly  impress  the  students  of 
Western  countries  today.  The  genuine  beauty  of  that  “Song 
of  the  Adorable  One,”  the  Bhagavad  Gita,  is  widely  recog- 
nized. It  is  an  attempt  at  the  exposition  and  the  illumina- 
tion of  the  doctrine  of  faith  (bhakti).  Though  only  the  size 
of  our  Gospel  according  to  St.  Mark,  it  is  held  in  highest 
esteem  by  so  many  people  that  it  has  come  to  be  known  to-day 
as  the  “Hindu’s  Bible.”  “Manu’s  Institutes”  (compiled 
somewhere  between  200  B.  C.  and  200  A.  D.)  and  other 
codes  preceding  and  following  it  have  legalized  the  caste  sys- 
tem for  many  centuries.  No  other  social  and  religious  laws  or 
customs  ever  ruled  a people  so  completely  and  for  so  long  a 
time  as  these.  The  Confucian  ethical  and  social  system  has 
held  sway  in  China  for  a longer  period,  but  has  been  less 
drastic  and  minute  in  its  control. 

5.  Its  Literary  Value. — Hindu  sacred  literature  exhibits 
the  widest  possible  range  of  merit.  The  profound  and  rich 
mystical  songs  of  the  later  Saivite  and  Vaishnavite  saints  are 
held  in  supreme  affection  by  the  millions  of  India.  Their 
ideas  found  expression  in  South  India  in  the  wonderful  songs 
and  hymns  of  Saiva-Siddhanta,  which,  in  the  opinion  of  some 
reputable  scholars,  caught  much  of  their  inspiration  from  the 
Christian  churches  in  that  region  in  the  middle  ages.  In 
Northern  India  also  this  mystic  faith  produced  some  of  the 
most  passionate  songs  of  faith  ever  known.  In  Bengal  it  has 
found  fervid  expression  in  many  Vaishnavite  devotees  whose 
eloquent  poetry  of  love  and  faith  has  greatly  swayed  the 
mind  of  the  people,  high  and  low.  Today  it  finds  its 
latest  and  most  beautiful  expression  in  the  poems  of  Rabin- 

43 


IV.  s. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


dranath  Tagore.  No  one  who  reads  his  Gitanjali  can  feel 
surprised  that,  even  for  this  small  collection  of  verse,  trans- 
lated into  exquisite  English  by  the  author  himself  from  his 
native  Bengali,  he  should  have  been  awarded,  in  November, 
1913,  the  Nobel  prize  for  literature. 

6.  Its  Deterioration. — While  the  earliest  Hindu  liter- 
ature, the  Rig  Veda,  was  remarkably  elevated,  yet  Hindu 
literature  has  witnessed  some  great  deteriorations,  notably 
in  the  case  of  the  Puranas  and  the  Tantras.  The  latter, 
because  of  their  obscenity,  are  practically  unavailable  in  Eng- 
lish versions.  Nevertheless,  there  have  been,  as  mentioned 
above,  counter  currents  of  elevating  thought,  of  passionate 
poetry,  and  of  theistic  adoration  of  the  supreme  God.  But 
educated  Hindus  hold  most  precious  their  earliest  religious 
literature,  and  see  in  it  the  strongest  and  the  best  which  their 
faith  has  produced. 

7.  Its  Lack  of  Historical  Perspective. — One  of  the  chief 
defects  of  Hindu  literature  is  its  want  of  historical  back- 
ground and  perspective.^  The  Hindu  time-system,  of  epochs, 
of  minor  and  of  major  aeons  aims  at  eternity.  Its  recur- 
ring cycles  go  on  forever.  To  Hindu  writers  a thousand 
years  are  but  a day,  or  a brief  moment.  In  their  hands  his- 
tory became  poetry,  filled  with  mythical  elements ; heroes  and 
sages  took  on  divine  proportions.  No  reliable  historical  book, 
except  a history  of  Kashmir  in  the  eleventh  century,  was  ever 
written  by  a Hindu  prior  to  the  nineteenth  century.  All  the 
authentic  history  of  the  people  has  been  chronicled  by  for- 
eigners, by  Greeks,  Romans,  Chinese,  Persians,  Italians  or 
British.  The  Puranas,  to  which  a Hindu  will  sometimes 
refer  with  pride,  have  no  real  historical  value. 

Every  missionary  needs  not  only  to  become  acquainted 

* “History  is  the  one  weak  spot  in  Indian  literature.  It  is,  in  fact,  non-existent.  The 
total  lack  of  the  historic  sense  is  so  characteristic  that  the  whole  course  of  Sanskrit  literature 
is  darkened  by  the  shadow  of  this  defect,  suffering  as  it  does  from  the  entire  lack  of  an  exact 
chronology.  Two  causes  seem  to  have  combined  to  bring  about  this  remarkable  result.  In 
the  first  place,  India  wrote  no  history  because  it  never  made  any.  Secondly,  the  Brahmans, 
whose  task  it  naturally  would  have  been  to  record  great  deeds,  had  early  embraced  the  doctrine 
that  all  action  and  existence  are  a positive  evil,  and  could  therefore  have  felt  but  little 
inclination  to  chronicle  historical  events.”  (Macdonell,  “History  of  Sanskrit  Literature,” 

pp.  1011.) 

AA. 


THE  MISSIONARY  AND  HIS  PEOPLE 


V.  1. 


with  the  characteristics  of  the  mind  of  the  Hindus  and  their 
religious  and  social  beliefs  and  practices,  as  outlined  above, 
but  also  to  go  to  India  ready  to  assume  a right  attitude 
toward  the  people,  to  whom  he  would  commend  Jesus  Christ, 
and  toward  the  missionary  work,  into  the  heritage  and  prob- 
lems of  which  he  is  to  enter. 

V.  The  Missionary’s  Attitude  toward  the  People 

The  success  of  a new  missionary  will  depend  largely  upon 
his  attitude  to  those  for  whom  and  with  whom  he  works. 
Some  well-meaning  and  very  able  missionaries  have  failed  of 
success  because  they  have  not  understood  the  people  or  gained 
their  confidence  and  affection.  They  are  not  entirely  to  blame 
for  this,  for  the  Hindus  are  naturally  reserved,  even  secre- 
tive, and  some  of  them  are  quite  sensitive  in  their  relations 
with  the  people  of  the  West.  Perhaps  their  lack  of  transpa- 
rence and  approachableness  is  partly  due  to  the  attitude  of 
the  West  toward  them.  The  missionary  needs  preeminently 
to  cultivate  a quintet  of  the  characteristic  Christian  graces  in 
order  that  he  may  properly  relate  himself  to  the  people. 

1.  Appreciation. — The  attitude  of  the  man  of  the  West 
toward  the  Hindu  is  commonly  condescending,  if  not  worse. 
Few  persons  can  meet  Hindus  of  all  classes  on  terms  of  fel- 
lowship and  brotherhood.  For  the  missionary  there  is  special 
danger  at  this  point.  One  reason  doubtless  is  that  the 
Hindu  is  often  so  unapproachable  to  the  man  of  the  West; 
but  the  chief  reason  undoubtedly  is  that  the  latter,  having 
found  the  Hindu  to  be  quite  different  from  himself,  is 
disposed  to  interpret  the  difference  in  terms  of  his  own 
superiority  and  of  Hindu  inferiority.  The  Hindu  is, 
indeed,  strikingly  different  from  the  man  of  the  West; 
but  the  latter  should  regard  the  Hindu  not  so  much  his 
opposite  as  a partial  complement.  They  are  different, 
because  each  one  has  emphasized  different  types  and  char- 
acteristics of  life.  The  East  and  West  are  like  a hemisphere 

45 


V.  1. 


PKESENTIN(;  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


of  life  and  character;  where  one  is  weak  the  other  is  strong, 
and  vice  versa.  The  Western  missionary,  to  whom  the  Hindu 
seems  seriously  defective  in  some  respects,  should  remember 
that  his  own  defects  are  in  other  ways  equally  palpable  to  the 
Hindu.  The  Hindus  have,  on  the  whole,  emphasized  the  pas- 
sive type  as  we  have  the  aggressive.  Have  they  not  as  much 
right  to  glory  in  their  emphasis  as  we  have  in  ours?  Each 
type  is  defective  in  so  far  as  it  is  lacking  in  fullness  and  in 
proportion. 

The  missionary,  beyond  all  other  men,  should  cultivate  a 
discriminating  appreciation  of  the  finest  traits  of  the  Hindu 
mind  and  character.  He  should  realize  that  a passive  type 
■)f  character  is  not  necessarily  weak.  The  man  of  the  West 
/ehemently  opposes,  in  order  to  overcome  unrighteousness; 
the  man  of  India,  on  the  other  hand,  will  patiently  suffer,  in 
order  that  holiness  may  be  achieved.  The  passive  type 
may  require  and  reveal  fully  as  much  moral  strength  and 
manly  vigor  as  the  aggressive  type.  The  patient  endurance 
of  the  East  can  reveal  more  moral  grit  than  the  noisy  aggres- 
sion of  the  West.  Heroism  is  often  witnessed  in  the  wonder- 
ful way  in  which  Indian  Christians  bear  persecution  for 
Christ’s  sake.  The  non-resisting  life  is  that  which  the  ordi- 
nary man  of  India  knows  easiest  how  to  exemplify;  while  the 
American  brother  often  neither  knows  what  it  is  nor  appreci- 
ates its  ethical  value  and  significance.  In  this  respect  the 
“Sermon  on  the  Mount,”  with  its  instruction  on  humility  and 
non-resistance,  comes  nearer  home  to  the  man  of  the  East, 
and  is  much  more  intelligible  to  him  than  to  the  man  of  the 
West.  Thus  the  best  Indian  type  is  rather  higher  than  a 
Western  missionary  might  at  first  be  inclined  to  admit.  He 
must  in  that  new  world  of  life  and  thought  adjust  himself  to 
the  people  and  their  ideals  of  life,  in  order  that  he  may  dis- 
cern and  appreciate  the  special  values  in  their  type  of  char- 
acter. No  one  who  is  obtrusively  and,  too  often,  obnoxiously 
Western  in  his  type,  his  ideals  and  his  emphasis  can  win 


46 


THE  MISSIONARY  AND  HIS  PEOPLE 


V.  2. 


Hindus  to  Christ.  He  must  beware  lest  thereby  he  lock 
the  door  of  access  to  the  heart  of  the  people.  Otherwise  he 
may  find  that  his  altruism  however  great,  his  ability  how- 
ever striking,  his  faith  however  heroic,  will  not  make  friends 
of  Hindus,  or  open  their  ears  to  his  message.  Herein  lie 
most  delicate  and  difficult  missionary  adjustments. 

At  the  present  time  the  racial  self-consciousness  of  Hindus 
is  abnormally  strong.  It  is  especially  manifested  by  some  of 
the  educated  classes  who  resent  condescension,  keenly  feel 
injustice  and  dislike  patronage.  They  demand,  more  than 
ever  before,  equal  racial  rights  with  and  from  the  man  of  the 
West.  They  are  hyper-sensitive,  and  scent  from  afar  the  pat- 
ronizing air.  Of  all  men,  the  missionary  must  shun  such  an 
unworthy  and  impolitic  attitude.  The  only  way  of  real  suc- 
cess is  by  the  determined  cultivation  of  a genuine  appreci- 
ation of  all  that  is  worthy  and  admirable  in  the  life  and  char- 
acter of  this  people.  The  more  sedulously  he  fosters  this 
spirit  of  appreciation,  the  more  easy  and  natural  it  will  be- 
come, and  the  more  will  he  find  what  is  worthy  of  his  real 
approval.  He  must  first  understand  the  beauty  of  the  Indian 
type,  and  then  appreciate  and  admire  its  good  points.  This 
appreciation  must  also  have  reference  to  their  past  achieve- 
ments and  their  intellectual  and  philosophical  powers.  Who 
should  be  more  ready  than  the  missionary  to  approve  and 
commend  with  due  discrimination  the  good  that  is  found 
among  the  people  whose  love  he  is  to  win  and  whose  souls 
he  seeks  to  save?  Missionary  preparation  should  lay  the 
foundation  for  such  an  attitude  of  wise  appreciation. 

2.  Sympathy. — Another  key-word  to  the  situation  in 
India  is  sympathy.  The  King-Emperor  of  India,  after  his 
visit  to  that  land  in  1911-12,  declared  to  his  British 
subjects  upon  his  return  to  England  that  sympathy  on  the 
part  of  the  British  toward  the  people  of  India  was  the  great- 
est need  of  the  day.  This  is  urgently  true.  As  a subject 
people  the  Hindus  have  a thousand  laudable  ambitions  for 


47 


V.  2. 


rRESENTlNG  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


advancement,  educationally,  racially,  and  politically.  These 
ambitions  are  not  only  legitimate;  they  are  in  the  line  of 
what  Great  Britain  has  given  to  the  Indians,  and  are 
definitely  a part  of  their  growing  manhood.  No  one  is  better 
suited  to  sympathize  with  them  in  these  ambitions  than  is  the 
missionary.  The  missionary  will  of  course  be  careful  to 
avoid  the  pitfalls  of  politics  or  of  blind  partisanship  either 
with  the  government  or  with  the  ambitious  classes.  Most 
important  of  all  is  it  that  he  should  avoid  anything  which 
savors  of  disloyalty  to  the  government  by  whose  permission 
he  resides  in  India.  Yet  in  some  respects  he  is  situated,  as  is 
no  one  else,  to  serve  as  an  interpreter  between  the  people  and 
the  government  and  thus  to  cultivate  friendly  feelings  and 
relations.  As  a Christian  he  cannot  fail  to  sympathize  with 
their  ambitions  for  the  removal  of  their  disabilities  and  of 
the  obstacles  which  impede  their  advancement.  He  may 
even  use  any  influence  he  may  have  with  the  government  to 
encourage  the  granting  of  legitimate  demands.  Through  it 
all  he  must  stand  for  brotherhood  and  should  seek  to  over- 
it  of  elements  which  they  regard  as  evil.  The  missionary  may 
come  the  racial  bitterness  or  suspicion  which  marks  too 
many  of  the  leaders  on  both  sides.  Many  of  the  reformers 
who  are  not  yet  ready  to  forsake  their  ancestral  religion  are 
yet  aware  of  its  inadequacy,  and  they  are  desirous  of  purging 
well  show  himself  friendly  to  such  efforts.  While  the  prep- 
aration of  the  missionary  should  fit  him  for  such  tasks  as 
have  been  suggested  above,  let  it  be  remembered  that  only 
the  experienced  missionary,  who  knows  the  people  and  has 
demonstrated  to  government  and  people  alike  his  loyalty  and 
disinterestedness,  can  safely  enter  any  domain  that  touches 
on  politics.  The  young  missionary,  and  especially  the  young 
American  missionary,  should  scrupulously  avoid  unwise 
action  at  this  point.  Yet  the  missionary  is,  and  should  be, 
recognized  as  the  friendly  sympathizer  with  all  who  would 
elevate  the  social  life  of  India. 


48 


THE  MISSIONARY  AND  HIS  PEOPLE 


V.  3. 


3.  Patience. — In  the  Hindu  code  of  life,  patience  is  a 
supreme  and  cardinal  virtue  both  for  gods  and  for  men.  Ac- 
cordingly impatience,  which  is  regarded  as  only  a foible  by 
Westerners,  is  an  unpardonable  sin  in  India.  Those  pepple 
put  us  to  shame  in  the  exercise  of  the  virtue  of  patience.  For 
this,  as  for  other  reasons,  the  missionary  must  try  to  excel 
in  the  exercise  of  this  virtue.  He  will  find  much  in  India 
to  tax  his  patience.  The  ultra-conservative  spirit  of  the 
people,  their  immobility  and  unwillingness  to  consider  new 
beliefs  and  new  forms  of  activity,  is  very  strong.  They  cling 
to  the  old  simply  because  of  its  antiquity.  To  them  the  nov- 
elty of  anything  is  too  often  its  condemnation.  They  worship 
custom ; their  golden  age  is  behind  them.  Hardly  any  virtue 
in  the  whole  catalogue  is  more  needed  in  dealing  with  Hindus 
than  is  patience.  It  will  be  frequently  tested  in  the  mission- 
ary life,  and  it  must  be  constantly  cultivated. 

The  attitude  of  the  common  people  toward  the  West  is 
often  one  of  suspicion.  The  faith  of  their  fathers  is  to  them 
eternally  right;  it  needs  no  defence.  A foreign  religion, 
especially  a faith  from  the  younger  West,  is  regarded  as  pre- 
sumably false.  It  requires  much  patience  to  meet  and  over- 
come this  attitude  and  to  win  an  audience  and  a welcome  to 
Christianity. 

The  missionary  must  also  exercise  much  patience  with  the 
people  in  their  moral  delinquencies,  which  are  not  a few. 
These  will  be  the  more  trying  because  they  are  of  a type 
unfamiliar  to  him.  The  sins  which  are  characteristic  of  the 
tropics  are  prevalent  among  the  Hindus.  If  in  some  of  the 
elements  of  a noble  character  they  are  strong,  in  others  they 
are  lamentably  weak  and  liable  to  err. 

There  is  another  feature  in  which  they  are  trying;  their 
action  is  not  closely  linked  to  conviction.  As  has  been  inti- 
mated before,  the  fact  that  a Hindu  acknowledges  a certain 
belief  furnishes  to  him  no  insuperable  objection  to  the  ignor- 
ing of  it  in  his  life.  To  the  man  of  the  West  this  will  be 


49 


V.  3. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


annoying  and  exasperating,  if  he  does  not  expect  it  and  is  not 
fortified  against  it  with  a patience  which  “endures  all  things.” 

4.  A Love  for  the  People. — There  must  be  added  to  all 
other  qualities  a love  that  “thinketh  no  evil,”  that  “covereth 
a multitude  of  sins,”  that  minimizes  all  that  is  unattractive, 
and  magnifies  everything  which  is  commendable  and  win- 
some in  the  people.  Sad  it  is  for  a missionary  when  he  does 
not  like  the  people,  for  the  lack  of  this  detracts  from  the  value 
of  the  most  self-sacrificing  labor  of  love;  blessed  is  the  mis- 
sionary who  has  a natural  and  peculiar  fondness  for  them 
and  an  attachment  to  them  which  will  make  it  his  joy  always 
to  be  ministering  to  their  pleasure  as  well  as  to  their  good. 

5.  A High  Evaluation  of  the  Indian  Christians. — The 
missionary  must  possess  and  exercise  these  same  graces  of 
mind  and  character  in  an  even  more  intense  degree  toward 
Indian  Christians  who  have  been  won  from  Hinduism  and 
brought  unto  Christ.  He  must  learn  to  appreciate  their 
mode  of  Christian  faith  and  life,  because  it  will  be  largely 
complementary  to  his  own.  Its  mild  type  and  beauty,  charac- 
teristic of  the  East,  and  its  mystic  passion  are  too  often 
marred  by  the  ethical  weakness  of  the  tropics.  He  must 
appreciate  the  simplicity  of  their  faith  and  the  tender  assur- 
ance which  breathes  through  their  prayers,  even  in  small 
matters  of  earthly  concern.  He  must  appreciate  the  eager 
seeking  after  union  with  the  Divine.^ 

He  must  learn  to  sympathize  with  the  growing  ambition 
of  the  Indian  Church  for  self-expression  and  for  self-direc- 

* Both  Indian  Christian  leaders  and  missionaries  unite  in  the  regret  that  this  feature 
of  the  Christian  life  is  not  more  prevalent  in  India  than  it  is;  and  at  the  same  time  they  unite 
in  the  confidence  that  it  will  surely  become  more  prevalent  there,  because  in  a certain  way 
it  is  so  close  to  the  characteristic  type  of  Indian  religpous  mysticism. 

But  a certain  difference  also  must  not  be  missed.  “A  rjassionate  seeking  after  the 
Divine”  is  indeed  a feature  of  Indian  life  at  its  best,  whether  in  the  Hindu  religion  or  in 
the  Christian  religion.  But  the  conception  of  just  what  it  is  to  be  “divine”  is  very  different. 
In  the  former  case  the  actual  experience  in  the  human  being,  as  well  as  the  theoretical 
ideal  in  the  Divine  Being,  is  a mystical  rapture  which  is  indescribable  otherwise  than  that 
it  is  supremely  rapturous.  In  the  latter  case  it  is  distinctly  ethical,  marked  by  the  definite, 
intelligent,  alert,  redemptive  purposefulness  of  a righteous  character. 

The  mystical  type  of  religious  experienee  in  the  form  of  felt  communion  with  the 
Divine  is  the  type  most  congenial  to  the  East,  while  it  is  largely  unattractive  to  the  West, 
which  seeks  rather  the  form  of  communion  with  the  Divine  which  comes  in  active  cooperation 
in  the  performing  of  ethically  good  works.  Both  types  are  to  be  found  in  the  New 
Testament,  and  are  to  be  included  in  the  completely  perfect  Christian  character,  even  as  they 
are  realized  so  harmoniously  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 


50 


HIS  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  THEIR  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  VI.  1. 


tion,  and  he  must  himself  set  an  example  of  resolute  self- 
effacement.  He  must  be  willing  to  let  Indian  Christians  learn 
to  carry  on  their  work,  even  if  for  a time  it  is  done  less  effi- 
ciently than  he  himself  could  do  it.  He  must  be  patient  with 
their  moral  delinquencies  which  are  so  offensive,  but,  never- 
theless, are  almost  exactly  the  same  as  those  of  the  ancient 
apostolic  Church.  A careful  study  of  the  Pauline  Epistles  is 
one  of  the  best  aids  for  the  understanding  of  the  infant 
Church  of  India  today;  they  also  reveal  to  some  extent  the 
best  method  of  training  the  modern  mission  Church. 

VI.  The  Missionary’s  Attitude  toward  the  Relig- 
ious Thought  and  Faith  of  the  People. 

The  attitude  of  the  average  early  missionary  was  one  of 
antipathy,  even  of  hostility,  to  the  religion  and  the  philosophy 
of  the  people.  He  had  been  taught  to  regard  almost  all  that 
the  people  believed  and  that  was  embraced  in  their  ancestral 
faith  as  coming  from  the  devil,  to  be  denounced,  attacked  and 
overthrown  by  all  means  and  at  all  times.  He  had  been  taught 
that  the  dissonances  of  Christianity  and  Hinduism  were 
everywhere  and  always  fundamental,  and  that  the  success  of 
the  one  must  be  at  the  expense  of  the  total  destruction  of  all 
that  belongs  to  the  other.  Today  there  is  danger  that  the 
pendulum  will  swing  to  the  other  extreme,  where  the  many 
antithetical  features  of  the  two  faiths  are  forgotten  or  unin- 
telligently  minimized.  Possibly  an  over-emphasis  is  being 
placed  upon  their  assonances,  not  a few  of  which  are  more 
apparent  than  real.  In  his  attitude  the  missionary  must  aim 
to  avoid  these  extremes.  He  must  cultivate  with  care  those 
qualities  of  mind  and  heart  which  make  one  impartial  and 
sincere. 

1.  Discrimination. — There  is  much  loss  of  power  and 
waste  of  energy  because  missionaries  do  not  carefully  “dis- 
tinguish the  things  that  differ.”' 

^ Philippians  1:10  (R.  V.  margin.) 


51 


VI.  1.  (a)  PRESENTlNCi  CHKIST1.<\NIT V TO  HINDUS 

(a)  Between  Essential  and  Incidental  Features. — This 
discrimination  should  be  exercised  between  teachings  which 
are  of  the  essence  of  Hindu  thought  on  the  one  side,  and 
those  which,  though  connected  with  their  religious  life,  are 
merely  incidental,  social  or  temperamental  in  their  scope. 
There  are  also  customs  which,  like  wearing  the  tuft  of  hair, 
so  common  in  India,  have  come  down  from  prehistoric 
times,  and  have  lost  the  original  significance  they  may  have 
had  in  the  past.  Why  waste  precious  energy  in  fighting  such 
customs?  They  will  atrophy  and  drop  out  of  the  national 
life  naturally  and  noiselessly,  as  fast  as  new  ideals  and 
modern  aspirations  are  adopted  and  prevail.  At  the  same 
time  all  that  is  contrary  to  the  teachings  of  Christ  must  be 
renounced,  and  where  a custom  seems  to  the  convert  to  be  an 
integral  part  of  his  old  religion,  even  though  it  may  seem 
innocent  to  the  missionary  or  to  other  Christians,  it  too  should 
be  allowed  to  go. 

(b)  Betzveen  Hinduism  as  a Religion  and  Some  of  Its 
Truths. — The  missionary  must  also  discriminate  between 
Hinduism  as  a whole  and  some  of  the  worthy  aspirations, 
institutions,  and  teachings  which  have  grown  up  with  it. 
Hinduism  as  a system  must  be  condemned  and  superseded; 
yet  in  that  religion  some  truths  find  emphatic  and  vital 
expression.  These  truths  have  made  possible  Hinduism’s 
long  existence  and  great  influence  and  the  persistent  attach- 
ment of  the  people  to  it.  Such  teachings  ought  to  persist,  but 
they  need  to  be  removed  from  their  present  connection  with 
its  distortion  of  form  and  emphasis,  and  must  be  given  a 
purer  expression  and  a proper  relation  to  Christianity.  By 
such  a conservation  they  will  tend  to  aid  the  people  upward 
toward  a broader  and  purer  faith. 

That  there  are  such  true  teachings  in  Hinduism,  even 
though  grotesquely  conceived  and  applied  in  error,  is  one  of 
the  most  important  facts  for  the  missionary  to  understand 
and  appreciate.  Even  pantheism,  which  as  now  taught  by 


52 


HIS  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  THEIR  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  VI.  2. 

orthodox  Hindus  is  the  most  deadening  error  in  their  faith, 
is  nevertheless  only  an  over-emphasis  upon  the  profound 
truth  of  God’s  immanence  in  the  world.  When  this  Vedantic 
teaching  is  rightly  interpreted,  i.e.,  when  Divine  personality 
and  human  individuality  are  recognized,  and  when  the  ethical 
imperative  is  maintained  intact,  the  compelling  truth  of  that 
doctrine  will  do  for  India  what  an  emphasis  upon  God’s  tran- 
scendence has  not  accomplished  and  never  can  accomplish  for 
the  West. 

(c)  Between  the  Hinduism  of  the  Thinker  and  Popular 
Beliefs. — The  missionary  must  continually  discriminate,  as 
has  already  been  noted  above,  between  the  higher  Hinduism 
of  thought  and  the  gross  popular  Hinduism  of  the  common 
people  which  is  so  deeply  superstitious  and  debasing.  Higher 
Hinduism  has  often  touched  the  edges  of  the  greatest  truths 
of  universal  religion.  Its  teachings  arouse  some  admiration, 
though  they  fail  to  win  our  assent.  The  system  of  religious 
thought  which  it  has  developed  is  far  removed,  however, 
from  the  common  type  of  worship  which  the  spectator  sees 
each  day  among  the  masses  of  Hindus,  full  of  crass  super- 
stitions, petty  ceremonies,  unedifying  ritual,  and  an  idol  wor- 
ship which  is  demoralizing  and  almost  dehumanizing.  The 
Hinduism  of  the  philosopher  is  subtle  and  mystic;  the  Hindu- 
ism of  common  life  is  prevailingly  ceremonial  and  idolatrous, 
and  the  two  should  never  be  confused.  The  student  may 
even  give  all  the  credit  due  to  the  former  without  weakening 
in  the  least  his  condemnation  of  the  latter. 

2.  Fairness  of  Judgment. — The  missionary  must  culti- 
vate a just  regard  for  the  depth  of  thought  and  for  the  spec- 
ulative attainments  of  Hinduism.  Its  profound  spiritual  out- 
reachings  and  its  subtle  philosophies  have  roused  many 
Christian  thinkers  of  the  West  to  admiration.  The  best 
search  of  Hindus  after  the  Divine  has  been  unique  among 
the  thought  aspirations  of  old-world  races.  They  have  also 
revealed  in  their  thinking  an  originality  which  has  led  them 


5.3 


VI.  2. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


out  on  different  paths  from  those  pursued  in  other  lands.  No 
one  should  go  to  India  as  a missionary  without  realizing  that 
Hindu  religious  speculation  is  a field  of  thought  which  will 
well  repay  study  and  which  will  also  teach  the  man  of  the 
West  to  appreciate  the  man  of  the  East.  He  will  not  com- 
pare the  worst  features  of  one  religion  with  the  best  features 
of  the  other,  but  rather  the  ideals  and  the  dynamics  of  both. 

Moreover,  he  will  find  that  this  study  will  be  most  instruc- 
tive in  its  suggestions  to  him  regarding  that  special  type  and 
emphasis  of  Christianity  which  India  will  demand  and  which 
will  ultimately  become  indigenous  to  that  country.  He  will 
learn  to  appreciate  the  mystic  yearning  for  a union  of  the 
individual  soul  with  the  Divine  Soul,  which  has  been  charac- 
teristic of  India  during  the  millenniums  of  its  history  and 
which  appeals  strongly  to  the  Indian  Christian  Church. 

3.  Sensitiveness  to  Dissonances. — The  Christian  mis- 
sionary must  also  keep  himself  sensitive  to  the  dissonances 
between  Hinduism  and  Christianity.  He  cannot  forget  that 
there  is  a fundamental  opposition  at  the  heart  of  these  faiths ; 
otherwise  he  will  lose  the  great  dynamic  of  his  missionary 
life  and  ambition.  A sense  of  the  great  conflict  which  is 
being  waged,  of  which  he  and  his  life  work  represent  an 
integral  part,  is  something  which  he  must  foster  and  main- 
tain. If  he  does  not  feel  it,  his  interest  in  his  work  will  wane, 
and  he  will  soon  cease  to  be  a successful  missionary. 

Herein  a serious  danger  will  threaten  him.  It  is  incidental 
to  his  growing  friendship  with  the  people  and  to  his  increas- 
ing sense  of  a duty  to  understand  and  to  appreciate  the  strong 
points  of  Hinduism.  It  is  also  incidental  to  his  life  lived  in 
the  presence  of  the  evils  of  Hinduism  with  the  consequent 
loss  of  repugnance  to  them,  and  the  subtle  influence  of  that 
religion  with  its  eternal  cry  for  peace  at  any  price  with  other 
faiths.  Not  only  will  the  missionary  candidate  need  to  for- 
tify himself  with  a clear  vision  of  the  essentials  of  his  own 
gospel;  he  will  need  to  renew  frequently  his  allegiance  to 

54 


HIS  ATTITUDE  TOWARD  THEIR  RELIGIOUS  THOUGHT  VI.  5. 


Christ  and  His  gospel,  and  to  keep  in  mind  the  duty  of  bravely 
facing  all  that  opposes  Him  and  His  cause.  He  must  daily 
drink  deeply  of  the  fountain  of  spiritual  and  ethical  ideals,  as 
they  spring  forth  from  Christ.  Some  missionaries  in  India 
have  lost  their  evangelistic  and  missionary  fervor  and  have 
weakened  in  their  influence  with  the  diminution  of  this  prin- 
cipal source  of  their  power. 

4.  Skill  in  the  Presentation  of  Christianity. — The  mis- 
sionary must  learn,  to  a certain  extent,  to  present  his  own 
faith  to  Hindus  on  lines  of  least  resistance,  by  frequently 
using  and  emphasizing  truths  which  are  more  or  less  common 
to  the  two  religions,  such  as  the  doctrines  of  faith,  incarna- 
tion, atonement,  future  rewards  and  punishments.  A care- 
ful study  of  the  strategic  methods  of  appreciation,  of  ap- 
proach and  of  attack  is  not  only  wise  but  essential  to  the  mis- 
sionary as  a condition  of  highest  success.  His  preaching 
must  be  as  little  destructive  as  possible.  The  forces  that 
tend  to  destroy  the  people’s  confidence  in  their  faith  are  al- 
ready legion.  The  missionary  is  the  one  great  constructive 
agent  in  the  land,  and  must  give  his  strength  to  the  build- 
ing up  of  his  scheme  of  salvation  for  India.  The  messenger 
of  Christ  must  aim  to  build  up  the  new  in  the  heart  of  the 
people,  rather  than  to  tear  down  the  old.  He  must  introduce 
the  “expulsive  power  of  a new  affection.” 

5.  A Definite  Conception  of  the  Ultimate  Relations  of 
Hinduism  and  Christianity.  — While  Christianity  may  be 
regarded  as  the  fulfillment  of  the  religious  needs  of  Hindus, 
yet  the  antithesis  of  the  ideals  of  each  religion  must  not  be 
overlooked.  It  must  be  remembered  that  Hinduism  is  still 
growing  at  the  rate  of  over  a million  a year,  and  is  showing 
certain  virile  developments  in  its  modern  religious  move- 
ments. Nevertheless,  in  a very  important  sense,  the  mission- 
ary must  maintain  that  all  the  truths  which  are  imbedded  in 
other  faiths,  all  the  spiritual  yearnings  and  aspirations  of 
non-Christian  peoples  will  find  their  realization  and  fulfill- 


55 


VI.  s. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTI.\NITY  TO  HINDUS 


ment  in  Jesus  Christ.  All  the  rays  of  religious  truth,  else- 
where shining  through  the  soiled  and  refracted  media  of 
other  faiths,  are  found  reflected  in  their  full  beauty  and 
divine  light  in  Him. 

VII.  The  Missionary’s  Message  to  the  Hindu  People 

The  message  of  the  missionary  to  Hindus  must  be  adapted 
so  as  to  appeal  to  them  and  win  them.  Here  doubtless  has 
been  one  of  the  chief  defects  of  the  Western  missionary  prop- 
aganda in  the  East.  It  has  often  ignored  the  real  diflferences 
which  exist  between  the  people  of  the  far  West  and  those 
of  the  tropical  East — a difference  of  environment  and  train- 
ing, of  temperament  and  viewpoint.  The  East  and  the  West 
rarely  approach  a thought  or  an  enterprise  from  the  same 
side.  Even  the  Decalogue,  which  they  and  we  accept  in  com- 
mon, receives  such  different  emphasis  among  them  and 
among  us  as  to  amount  to  a strange  divergence.  For  ex- 
ample, they  so  overemphasize  the  fifth  and  sixth  command- 
ments as  to  lead  to  ancestral  worship  in  the  one  case,  and 
to  making  it  a sin  to  destroy  the  minutest  insect  life  in  the 
other.  The  West,  on  the  other  hand,  so  emphasizes  the 
seventh  and  eighth  as  to  make  them  the  cardinal  virtues  of 
life.  These  two  differing  aspects  and  emphases  of  funda- 
mental obligations  by  them  and  us  represent  and,  in  good 
part,  help  create  the  two  different  types  of  life,  character  and 
civilization  which  they  reveal. 

For  a Western  missionary  to  convey  his  message  in  the 
manner  and  with  the  emphasis  which  India  demands  for  its 
full  acceptance  is  a task  involving  great  skill.  Not  very- 
many  missionaries  have  fully  realized  the  wide  gulf  which 
has  separated  them  from  the  Hindu  in  mental  and  religious 
makeup  as  well  as  in  antecedents  and  prepossessions.  This 
difference  has  now  been  accentuated  and  made  more  manifest 
because  of  the  new  assertiveness  of  the  Hindu.  Some  of  their 
leaders  loudly  express  a repugnance  to  things  Western,  espe- 


HIS  MESSAGE 


VII.  2. 


cially  to  the  Western  forms  and  the  Western  type  of  Chris- 
tianity which  they  sometimes  characterize  today  as  “Church- 
ianity”  rather  than  as  Christianity.  A most  distinguished 
Indian  Christian,  some  years  ago,  said  to  a conference  of 
India  missionaries : “Gentlemen,  we  of  the  East  do  not  care 
for  your  adjectival  Christianity;  what  we  need  is  the  sub- 
stantive thing.”  Utterances  like  these,  in  the  past  few  years, 
have  brought  the  missionaries  to  realize  more  than  ever 
before  the  wide  gulf  which  separates  them  from  the  people 
of  India,  and  the  great  care  which  they  need  to  exercise  in 
their  efforts  to  present  the  gospel  message. 

1.  A Presentation  of  the  Essential  Gospel. — The  mission- 
ary should  aim  to  vitalize  his  message  in  terms  of  the  essen- 
tial gospel.  He  must  determine  how  much  of  what  he  holds 
is  essential  and  how  much  is  temperamental,  climatic,  his- 
torical and  distinctively  Western.  Every  virile  race  — the 
Roman,  the  Greek,  the  Latin,  the  Anglo-Saxon,  the  Teuton — 
which  has  adopted  Christianity,  has  given  to  it  as  well  as  re- 
ceived from  it  an  impress  and  has  sent  it  forth  with  a peculiar 
stamp.  Each  nationality  urges  upon  other  peoples  that  type 
of  Christianity  which  it  has  developed  and  which  reflects  its 
own  temperament  and  emphasis.  But  India  has  a right  to 
hear  the  gospel  message  unburdened,  as  far  as  possible,  by 
credal  or  controversial  elaborations  and  by  Western  inter- 
pretations, most  of  which  have  far  less  pertinence,  meaning 
and  value  in  India.  It  will  perhaps  surprise  the  young  mis- 
sionary to  know  how  little  of  all  this  is  of  the  essence  of  the 
gospel  which  he  is  to  proclaim.  But  these  unessential  things 
have  found  a significant,  even  if  a diminishing,  place  in  the 
missionary  message  to  India  in  the  past. 

2.  A Presentation  of  Jesus  Christ. — Such  a message 
must  be  emphatically  a personal  one.  It  must  gather  round 
the  person,  the  character  and  the  teaching  of  Jesus  Christ. 
Hinduism  has  been,  on  the  one  side,  the  apotheosis  of  an  im- 
personal deity,  and,  on  the  other,  of  a grossly  and  meanly 

57 


VII.  2. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


personal  pantheon.  The  unknowable  Brahma  and  the  too 
commonly  known  gods  and  godlings  must  be  displaced  by  a 
vision  of  the  Christ  of  God — by  Him  who  is  at  the  same  time 
the  true  and  supreme  revelation  of  God  and  the  perfect  and 
glorified  manifestation  of  man.  The  New  Testament  reveals 
beautifully  and  adequately  the  content  of  the  missionary 
message.^  The  person  of  Jesus  Christ  is  altogether  adequate 
to  satisfy  the  imperative  need  of  India,  which  desperately 
needs  a personal  Saviour  and  one  who  is  the  full  expression 
of  the  eternal  Godhead  and  of  a manhood  which  aspires  to 
fellowship  with  Him. 

The  adequacy  of  this  personal  message  is  being  revealed 
in  India  today.  Jesus  Christ,  the  founder  of  Christianity,  the 
substance  of  its  gospel,  the  Saviour  of  mankind,  is  steadily 
coming  to  attract  the  life  and  ideals  of  India.  It  is  the 
first  time  in  all  the  history  of  that  land  that  a perfect  ideal  of 
life  and  of  love  has  been  presented  for  the  acceptance  and 
adoration  of  the  people.  Among  all  the  gods  and  sages  of 
Hinduism,  not  one  has  ever  been  found  worthy  to  be  exalted 
as  an  exemplar  and  saviour  of  man.  While  the  educated 
Hindu  stands  aloof  from  our  type  of  Christianity,  because  it 
is  Western  and  therefore  unacceptable  to  him,  he  neverthe- 
less sees  in  Christ  “our  Oriental  Brother”  who  appeals  to  him 
and  wins  his  confidence  and  love.  Nearly  all  the  modern 
institutions  of  India  are  based  upon  and  inspired  not  by 
Hindu,  but  by  Christian  ideals.  It  is  clear  that  when  the 
faith  of  the  people  of  India  in  Christ  becomes  established  and 
indigenous  in  the  land,  it  will  increasingly  express  itself  in  a 
way  that  will  be  peculiarly  their  own  and  suited  to  build  up 
faith  in  Christ  among  them. 

3.  A Message  Definitely  Ethical. — The  missionary  must 

* Of  course,  in  any  complete  conspectus  of  the  Christian  missionary  enterprise  as  well 
as  of  Christian  theological  history,  it  would  need  to  be  pointed  out  that  there  have  been 
important  and  vigorous  branches  of  the  Christian  Church  which  maintain  through  various 
ecclesiastical  connections  that  full  salvation  actually  comes  only  through  the  Church,  even 
as  it  was  an  essential  part  of  the  work  of  Christ  to  create  a Church  as  well  as  to  preach 
himself.  An  admirable  presentation  of  the  theory  of  the  churchly  character  of  Christianity 
is  to  be  found  in  “Christ  and  the  Church,  a Restatement  of  Belief,”  by  Arthur  W.  RoHnson 
(Society  for  the  Propagation  of  Christian  Knowledge). 


58 


HIS  MESSAGE 


VII.  4. 


preach  a strong  message  of  ethical  personality.  Pantheism 
has  prevented  Hinduism  from  developing  a sound  ethical 
basis.  Philosophic  and  ceremonial  Hinduism  has  always 
failed  to  enforce  the  moral  imperative  in  life.  The  incom- 
prehensible Brahma  and  the  many  dissolute  gods  of  the 
pantheon  have  made  a high  moral  code  impossible  among  the 
people. 

Moreover,  Hinduism  has  not  coordinated  religious  faith 
and  morals.  It  has  never  been  made  sane  by  strong  ethical 
ideals.  It  has  given  emphasis  to  mystic  piety,  while  it  has 
ignored  ethical  purity.  Buddhism,  on  the  other  hand,  while 
requiring  ethical  self-culture,  made  its  entire  appeal  to  the 
Hindu  conscience  through  an  impersonal  system.  Thus  it 
was  left  to  Christianity  to  coordinate  these  two  great  ele- 
ments of  life  and  to  reveal  their  mutual  dependence  one  upon 
the  other.  Missionaries  must,  in  that  land  preeminently, 
devote  themselves  to  the  work  of  welding  the  spiritual  to  the 
ethical  in  the  life  and  ideals  of  the  people,  and  of  showing 
that  each  is  essential  to  the  other.  Without  morality  faith 
becomes  vain  and  vapid,  and  without  mystic  companionship 
with  a holy  God  the  conscience  has  no  adequate  strength, 
and  morality  lacks  both  a vision  and  an  inspiration. 

4.  A Message  Distinctively  Spiritual. — The  missionary’s 
message  to  Hindus  may  well  be  expressed,  so  far  as  possible, 
in  terms  of  mystic  piety.  The  Hindu  is  a mystic  of  the  mys- 
tics; religion  at  its  best  is  a spiritual  union  of  the  soul  with 
the  Divine.  However  much  the  man  of  the  West  may  corel- 
late  his  religion  with  philosophy,  science,  or  a system  of  doc- 
trines, he  must,  as  a missionary  to  India  (following  the 
example  of  the  great  apostle  to  the  Gentiles),  aim  to  com- 
mend Christianity  to  the  people  of  that  land  as  a spiritual 
experience,  an  aspiration  of  the  individual  soul  after  union 
and  fellowship  with  the  Divine.  While  properly  insisting 
upon  right  ethical  conduct  with  fellowmen,  he  must  seek  to 
foster  among  them  that  life  “which  is  hid  with  Christ  in 


59 


VII.  4. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


God.”  The  last  thing  that  the  missionary  to  India  should 
fear  is  either  to  be  called  a mystic  or  to  be  found  cultivating 
a mystic  vision  of  God  and  of  himself  as  the  ambassador  of 
Christ  to  that  people.  He  should  magnify  his  faith  as  the 
supreme  way  by  which  God  links  souls  with  Himself,  through 
a unity  of  will  and  purpose.  Let  him  study  the  New  Testa- 
ment epistles  to  see  how  constantly  they  link  closely  with 
highest  thought  the  deepest  experiences  of  the  life  of  faith, 
and  how  the  transcendent  utterances  of  our  Lord  are  inter- 
preted in  the  terms  of  the  indwelling  of  God’s  Holy  Spirit. 

5.  A Message  Definitely  Scriptural. — The  missionary 
message  must  be  found  in  the  Bible.  Its  authority  must  be 
traced  to  the  Bible  and  be  supported  by  it.  Hindus  believe  im- 
plicitly in  inspired  authority.  No  people  lean  more  fully  upon 
the  utterance  of  their  shastras,  or  inspired  books,  for  testi- 
mony and  support ; no  other  religion  depends  more  upon  what 
are  regarded  as  the  divinely  uttered  or  divinely  sanctioned 
messages  of  their  faith.  A faith  without  a Bible  is  to  the 
Hindu  impossible;  and  the  Christian  Bible  possesses  all  the 
qualities  which  the  Hindu  expects.  The  missionary  should 
make  much  of  the  fact  that  behind  his  message  is  a Book 
which  is  not  only  fully  attested  by  Heaven,  but  which  divinely 
commends  itself  to  the  approval  of  men  everywhere.  In 
South  India,  Hindus  call  Protestant  Christians  “Bible  peo- 
ple.” They  recognize  the  fact  that  Christians  are  a people 
who  revere  the  Bible  and  whose  message  of  life  finds  in  the 
Bible  its  fullest  expression. 

6.  A Message  Which  Emphasizes  the  Unity  of  Faith. — 
The  missionary’s  message  must  always  emphasize  the  unity 
and  unifying  influences  of  Christianity.  In  no  other  non- 
Christian  country  is  this  emphasis  more  required  than  in 
India.  A more  divisive  faith  than  Hinduism  never  claimed 
the  allegiance  of  men.  Its  genius  has  been  to  keep  men  apart 
and  to  set  them  one  against  the  other,  even  while  holding 
them  all  in  one  external  system;  it  normally  breathes  forth 

60 


HIS  MESSAGE 


VII.  7. 


jealousy  and  domination.  The  caste  system  of  Hinduism  is 
a remarkable  system  of  disunion;  it  sets  loose  all  the  social 
forces  of  separation.  To  such  a people  Christianity  must  be 
presented  as  the  religion  of  love  which  aims  supremely  to 
unite  men  in  fellowship  with  men,  and  the  kingdom  of  God  as 
the  great  family  of  God  whose  all-controlling  purpose  is  to 
“love  one  another”  and  whose  badge  is  kindliness  and  peace. 
Christianity’s  mission  to  India  is  to  heal  the  wounds  of  caste 
hatred  and  suspicion  and  to  overcome  the  tendencies  to 
antagonism  and  dissension  which,  through  Hinduism,  domi 
nate  the  land  and  people.  The  Christian  emphasis  upon  the 
fatherhood  of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man  makes  a glori- 
ous antithesis  to  the  divisive  vagaries  of  Hinduism. 

In  India  any  distinctively  Western  presentation  of  Chris- 
tianity with  its  distracting  claims  and  petty  jealousies  has 
been  and  is  a misfortune.  The  missionary  should  realize  that 
such  unessential  differences  have  little  real  meaning  or  rea- 
son for  existence  in  India.  Christianity  will  fully  triumph 
there  only  when  its  missionaries  learn  to  leave  behind  them 
in  the  West  those  prejudices  and  institutions  which  have 
there  divided  the  body  of  our  Lord.  In  this  particular  there 
has  been  wonderful  progress  during  the  last  few  years.  Mis- 
sionaries are  increasingly  studying  and  emphasizing  those 
essential  things  of  our  faith  which  make  for  union  and  unity, 
for  fellowship  and  cooperation,  and  are  minimizing,  if  not 
ignoring,  the  relatively  smaller  things  which  differentiate 
them.^ 

7.  A Message  Which  Exalts  the  Divine  Immanence  as 
Well  as  Transcendence. — The  missionary  message  in  India 
must  exalt  into  prominence  the  great  truth  of,  God’s  imma- 

^ .Ml  believers  in  Jesus  Christ  as  Lord  should  be  deeply  thankful  that,  in  comparison 
with  the  large  area  of  fundamental  truth  which  is  held  in  common  by  all  such  true  believers, 
their  differences  are  relatively  of  secondary  importance.  Yet  to  the  missionaries  who  are 
called  to  the  actual  task  of  building  up  the  church  of  Christian  India  it  is  as  evident  as 
to  theologians  at  home  that  the  points  on  which  different  branches  of  the  Christian  church 
differ  are  by  no  means  all  small  or  negligible.  The  true  path  to  union  lies  along  a greatly 
increased  recognition  of  the  value  of  the  elements  of  truth  which  are  held  by  the  different 
bodies  and  by  the  determination  that  through  more  sympathetic  contacts  and  clearer  mutual 
understanding  all  the  various  elements  of  comprehensive  Christian  truth  shall  be  recognized 
and  preserved  to  form  parts  of  the  beautiful  Temple  that  is  still  to  be. 


61 


VII.  7. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


nence.  It  is  this  truth  by  which  India  has  been  attracted 
during  the  centuries  and  which  has  developed  the  pantheistic 
trend  of  religious  thinking,  while  the  West  has  given  dispro- 
portionate emphasis  to  God’s  transcendence.  Both  these  doc- 
trines are  necessary  to  a complete  view  of  God  in  India  as  in 
the  West.  But  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  involved  in 
the  thought  of  immanence,  clearly  thought  out  and  well  ex- 
pressed, naturally  will  have  a prominent  place  in  the  thinking 
of  the  Christian  church  in  India. 

In  the  West,  three-fourths  of  all  the  doctrinal  conflicts  of 
the  ages  have  gathered  around  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ. 
In  India  those  conflicts  do  not  appeal  to  the  people;  for  few 
Hindus  find  much  difficulty  in  accepting  the  metaphysical 
deity  of  Christ.  The  Chri.stians  of  India  will  need  rather 
to  understand  the  Holy  Spirit  of  God  in  active  relationship 
to  human  life.  The  missionary  must  know  how  to  lead  the 
people  to  realize  God’s  Christlikeness  and  His  universal  ac- 
tivity. This  of  course  must  be  done  by  showing  as  divinely 
human  and  humanly  divine  the  person  and  the  work  of  our 
Lord  who  Himself  is  Immanuel,  “God  with  us”;  also  by  con- 
stantly interpreting  the  Christ  by  the  Spirit  and  the  Spirit 
through  the  Christ.  The  universal  One  must  be  known  and 
loved  in  the  supreme  personality  of  our  Lord.  He  is  the  im- 
manence of  the  divine  transcendence  which  is  incarnate  in 
the  man,  Christ  Jesus. 

\TII.  The  Lessons  to  he  Learned  from  Past  Mission- 
ary Efforts  in  India 

Christianity  has  been  at  work  in  India  for  at  least  fifteen 
centuries.  The  Syrian  Church  boldly  claims  its  founding  by 
the  apostle  St.  Thomas,  though  unable  to  prove  it.  The  pros- 
pective missionary  needs  to  study  carefully  the  varied  Chris- 
tian attempts  during  the  centuries  to  convert  the  Hindus  in 
order  that  he  may  discover  and  appreciate,  through  such  ex- 
periences, the  best  methods  of  approach  to  that  people. 


62 


PAST  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS 


VIII.  1. 


1.  The  Syrian  Churches. — The  Syrian  Church  has  per- 
sisted for  many  centuries  on  the  southwest  coast  of  India; 
but  for  most  of  this  time  it  has  been  practically  unknown  to 
the  world,  and  until  recently  has  done  little  to  bring  those 
outside  of  its  own  community  into  the  kingdom  of  our  Lord. 

Four  centuries  ago  the  Roman  Catholic  Church  arrived 
in  India.  It  soon  began  to  persecute  and,  later,  to  absorb  the 
Syrian  Church.  A century  ago  British  Protestant  mission- 
aries attempted  to  bring  new  life  and  ambitions  and  the  vis- 
ion of  a new  mission  to  this  Syrian  community.  They 
achieved  some  success ; indeed,  the  Reformed  Syrian  Church 
of  eighty  thousand  people  today  largely  represents  the  in- 
direct result  of  their  labors. 

During  these  many  centuries  this  Syrian  Church  has  re- 
vealed two  radical  defects.  In  the  first  place  it  had  practically 
lost  the  outgoing,  actively-propagating  missionary  spirit. 
For  many  centuries  it  has  been  merely  a caste  among 
many  other  castes,  equally  exclusive  in  its  spirit,  with  no 
desire  to  win  others  to  Christianity,  and  with  no  room  for 
them  in  its  fold  and  fellowship.  The  Reformed  Syrian 
Church  is  gradually  abandoning  this  position  and  is  giving 
itself,  on  certain  lines,  to  missionary  activity.  But  this  pro- 
gressive wing  numbers  hardly  one-eighth  of  the  whole  Syrian 
Christian  community. 

Again,  the  Syrian  Church  has  remained  even  unto  the 
present  day  a foreign  Church.  Today  there  is  very  little 
actual  foreign  blood  in  it.  Yet  it  is  largely,  as  its  name  in- 
dicates, a “Syrian  Church.”  Its  ecclesiastical  powers,  its 
ritual,  its  teachings,  and  its  right  of  financial  control  have 
been  all  but  exclusively  foreign.  The  head  of  this  Church 
derives  his  authority  from  a titular  bishop  of  the  ancient 
Church  of  Antioch.  This  relationship  has  led  to  inter- 
minable litigation  and  internal  conflict.  It  would  seem  as  if 
the  Church  should  have  come  to  its  own  self-direction  long 
ago.  But  it  has  continued  too  much  a foreipr  Church,  with 


63 


VIII.  1. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


relatively  slight  efforts  at  becoming  indigenous  to  India. 
Yet  the  young  men  of  the  Syrian  Church  are  seeking  largely 
after  higher  education  and  are  increasingly  coming  into  fel- 
lowship with  Christians  of  the  Protestant  missions  in  South 
India,  thereby  becoming  broader  in  their  sympathies  and 
substituting  piety  for  ritual  and  ecclesiasticism.  Herein  lies 
the  hope  of  the  Syrian  Church,  which  has  largely  lost  its 
spiritual  vitality  under  a mass  of  forms  and  ceremonies  and 
ecclesiastical  shibboleths.  But  recently  there  has  been  a no- 
table spiritual  regeneration. 

2.  The  Roman  Catholic  Propaganda. — The  work  of  the 
Roman  Church  has  been  conducted  for  more  than  four  cen- 
turies in  India  with  varying  success,  until  its  activities  are 
now  felt  in  all  parts  of  the  country.  There  is  hardly  a section 
of  the  land  where  this  wide-awake  Church  is  not  carrying 
on  its  propaganda.  Its  missionaries  have  often  revealed 
much  of  Christian  heroism  and  self-denial;  many  of  them 
were  and  are  men  of  distinguished  ability  and  piety,  with 
compelling  personalities.  But  their  whole  propaganda  has 
been  characterized  by  features  which  have  greatly  limited 
the  success  and  the  permanent  influence  of  that  Church  in 
India.  For  it  should  be  remembered  that,  while  Romanism 
claimed  a membership  of  two  and  a half  million  souls  in  India 
at  the  end  of  the  seventeenth  century,  at  the  present  time  it 
has  fewer  than  two  million,  even  including  the  Romo- Syrian 
Christians. 

The  Roman  Church  has  revealed  a keen  desire  to  adapt  its 
faith  to  the  heathen  people.  Its  leaders  have  elaborated  and 
emphasized  the  use  of  images  and  their  ritualism  with  a 
view  of  attracting  Hindus.  So  great  has  been  their  zeal  for 
religious  adaptation  that  they  have  compromised  and  de- 
graded Criristianity  itself.  The  use  of  images  by  Roman 
Catholicism  in  India  differs  from  that  of  Hinduism  mainly  in 
the  person  of  their  respective  images  with  the  noisy  proces- 
sions which  obtrude  themselves  upon  the  public.  In  these 


64 


PAST  MISSIONARY  EFFORTS 


VIII.  4. 


respects  Roman  Catholics  quite  resemble  the  Hindus.  In 
the  second  place,  in  order  to  make  the  process  of  “conver- 
sion” easy  and  to  bridge  the  gulf  between  the  two  faiths, 
Romanists  tolerated  from  the  first  and  were  friendly  to  the 
Hindu  caste  system.  They  failed  to  realize  that  the  recog- 
nition of  caste  distinctions  not  only  afiforded  an  easy  passage 
into  Christianity,  but  furnished  an  equally  available  route 
for  a return  to  Hinduism.  Indeed  they  lose,  through  this 
caste  adoption,  almost  as  many  of  their  converts  as  they  gain. 
This  heathenizing  tendency  of  the  Roman  Church  has 
brought  it  into  growing  disfavor  among  thoughtful  Hindus 
and  has  also  robbed  that  type  of  Christianity  of  its  purity, 
virility,  and  outgoing  vigor. 

3.  The  Continental  Protestant  MissiorCs. — It  was  two 
centuries  ago  that  continental  Protestants,  through  the 
leadership  of  the  Danish  king,  Frederick,  entered  upon  the 
work  of  establishing  Christianity  in  India.  These  missions 
have  done  much  to  promulgate  the  Protestant  type  of  Chris- 
tianity with  its  emphasis  upon  faith  and  upon  the  dignity  and 
the  glory  of  the  individual.  They  have  also  achieved  much 
for  the  translation  of  the  Bible  into  the  vernaculars  of  India. 
They  have,  however,  been  conservative  in  their  type  of 
thought.  They  have  also  suffered  much  from  their  early 
acceptance  of  the  view-point  of  the  Roman  Catholics  in  re- 
lation to  caste.  They  have  not  openly  antagonized  that  bale- 
ful institution  of  Hinduism,  but  have  allowed  it  to  become 
a source  of  interminable  difficulty  and  of  great  discourage- 
ment within  their  churches.  Their  younger  missionaries 
now  show  a strong  tendency  to  renounce  this  former  attitude 
toward  caste  and  to  continue  unremitting  effort  against  the 
whole  system. 

4.  The  British  Protestant  Effort. — Great  Britain  seri- 
ously took  up  its  missionary  task  in  India  a century  and  a 
quarter  ago. 

The  great  outstanding  features  of  the  British  propaganda 


65 


VIII.  4. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


have  been  its  abhorrence  of  the  caste  system,  its  exaltation 
of  the  individual,  and  its  faithful  advocacy  of  his  moral  and 
religious  liberties,  his  rights,  even  his  conscientious  scruples. 
It  has  sought  to  emancipate  him  from  the  tyranny  of  the 
corporate  body  which  fetters  his  life.  It  has  thereby  intro- 
duced a new  spirit,  social,  racial  and  religious,  which  India 
never  knew  before,  and  which  is  now  working  power- 
fully for  its  uplift.  At  the  same  time  it  has  been  somewhat 
handicapped  by  the  fact  that  it  represented  the  nation  which 
has  military  and  political  control  in  India,  and  by  the  innate 
tendency  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  to  assume  an  attitude  of  su- 
periority, which  makes  very  difficult  an  intimate  understand- 
ing or  appreciation  of  the  fine  qualities  of  the  people. 

5.  The  American  Effort. — It  may  be  going  too  far  to 
represent  North-American  missionary  effort  as  having  a dis- 
tinctive and  separate  type  of  its  own.  Nevertheless,  the 
American  missionary  body,  which  now  numbers  over  two 
thousand  missionaries,  slightly  fewer  in  number  than  those 
from  Great  Britain,^  has  so  definitely  emphasized  evange- 
listic work  that  the  largest  missions  in  India  at  the  present 
time  are  American,  while  more  than  half  of  the  Protestant 
Christians  of  India  are  connected  with  these  missions. 
Again,  American  missionaries  have  shown  a strong  humani- 
tarian spirit  reaching  out  constantly  into  the  varied  philan- 
thropic activities  which  are  normally  connected  with  a vig- 
^ orous  missionary  propaganda.  American  missionaries  stand 
firmly  with  those  of  Great  Britain  in  their  unceasing  efforts 
to  release  India  from  the  demeaning  and  divisive  caste  cus- 
toms of  Hinduism. 

IX.  Regular  and  Special  Avenues  of  Missionary 
Approach  to  Hindus 

It  is  vital  that  a missionary  should  discover  the  best  way 
of  approach  to  the  people  in  missionary  work.  For  many 
reasons  it  is  unfortunate  that  the  man  of  the  West  is  so  con- 

* “World  Statistics  of  Christian  Missions”  reports  2105  missionaries  from  North  America 
and  2328  from  Great  Britain. 

66 


AVENUES  OF  APPROACH 


IX.  1.  (a) 


* spicuously  a foreigner — so  far  removed  from  the  people  in 
antecedents,  view-point  and  sentiment.  He  must  set  himself 
definitely  to  overcome  this  infirmity: 

1.  Through  the  Cultivation  of  Close  Relations  ivith  the 
People. — He  may  do  this  by  adapting  himself  so  far  as  pos- 
sible to  the  country  and  the  people.  Two  methods  have  exer- 
cised the  minds  of  many  of  the  missionaries  from  the  first : 
(a)  The  Adoption  of  Indian  Food  and  Attire. — The  ex- 
periment has  been  often  tried  of  renouncing  Western  forms 
and  habits  of  life  and  of  adopting  Indian  customs.  Some  mis- 
sionaries, in  order  to  commend  themselves  to  their  people, 
have  adopted  the  food  and  attire  of  the  people  of  the  land. 
Early  in  the  history  of  the  Salvation  Army  in  India  it  was 
demanded  of  all  the  officers  that  they  live  as  Indian  people  do, 
in  these  particulars;  but  after  a few  years  of  experience 
these  rules  were  relaxed,  and  a wide  range  of  liberty  was 
granted  to  all  the  officers  of  that  organization.  The  Roman 
Catholic,  Abbe  Du  Bois,  for  years  lived  outwardly  as  a 
Hindu,  eating  all  their  food  and  clothing  himself  entirely 
after  their  fashion.  At  the  end  of  his  life  he  pronounced 
this  a definite  failure,  claiming  that  it  had  not  accomplished 
anything  toward  winning  a way  for  him  to  the  heart  of  the 
people.  A well-known  American  Christian  worker  also 
adopted  this  method  a few  years  ago,  but  has  considerably 
receded  from  his  first  position.  The  full  adoption  of  Indian 
customs  by  a Westerner  is  very  difficult,  and  more  or  less 
dangerous.  The  native  of  the  country  is  accustomed  to  the 
climate;  he  can  endure  the  extreme  heat  of  the  tropical  sun 
in  a way  which  is  impossible  for  the  man  from  higher  lati- 
tudes. The  food  of  the  country  is  life  and  health  to  him.  It 
is  not  so  for  the  missionary  from  the  West.  To  him  nothing 
is  more  insidious  and  dangerous  than  over-exposure  to  the 
tropical  sun’s  rays;  nor  is  it  easy  or  generally  healthful  for 
him  to  conform  to  Indian  customs.  It  would  be  much  easier 
for  a missionary  in  China,  a land  of  the  temperate  zone,  to 

67 


IX.  1.  (a)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 

conform  to  the  habits  of  the  country  than  it  is  for  a mission- 
ary in  India  to  do  so.  In  the  matter  of  food  much  can  be  ac- 
complished in  the  line  of  adaptation  and  adoption.  Some  arti- 
cles of  native  food  are  both  economical  and  healthful  at  cer- 
tain times;  but  one  who  alters  his  habits  of  living  must  do 
so  with  great  caution,  lest  he  reduce  his  physical  efficiency. 
Such  matters  as  these  each  worker  must  study  out  for  him- 
self, going  as  far  as  his  conscience  and  judgment  dictate.  He 
must  not,  of  course,  condemn  those  who  do  not  see  eye  to 
eye  with  him. 

In  India,  another  element  enters  into  the  problem.  Among 
the  Hindus  traditions  in  regard  to  food  and  clothing  are 
tenaciously  followed.  They  recognize  Western  practices  as 
conforming  to  Western  standards,  and  regard  them  some- 
times with  great  respect.  The  Hindus  do  not  desire  that  a 
Westerner  shall  compromise  himself  by  adopting  their  own 
forms  and  customs.  A missionary  who  renounces  the  usual 
customs  and  costume  of  the  West,  altering  his  rule  of  life 
for  the  sake  of  proselytizing,  acquires  in  the  popular  mind 
an  inferior  status;  he  is  regarded  with  some  suspicion,  and 
he  fails  to  commend  himself  to  them  as  he  otherwise  would. 

Whatever  may  be  said  of  this  as  a matter  of  convenience 
and  efficiency,  it  is  a well-known  fact  that  of  those  mission- 
aries who  renounced  their  own  ways  and  manifested  an 
eager  desire  to  become  all  things  unto  all  people  by  living  a 
thoroughly  Indianized  life,  very  few,  if  any,  persisted  for 
manv  vears,  and  hardlv  one  has  commended  this  to  others  as 
a way  of  special  access  and  favor  to  the  Indian  heart.  Hindus 
are  quick  to  appreciate  a man’s  sentiments  of  love  and  affec- 
tion for  them,  apart  from  the  adoption  of  any  of  these 
Oriental  customs.  In  their  minds  it  is  not  conformity  to 
their  habits  in  food  and  attire,  but  rather  the  kindly  heart, 
the  sympathy  and  the  love  of  the  missionary  which  wins 
their  confidence  and  establishes  a warm  friendship  between 
them.  The  question  of  food  and  clothing  is,  after  all,  largely 
superficial.  A man  of  foreign  habits  who  loves  the  Hindu 


68 


AVENUES  OF  APPROACH 


IX.  1.  (b) 


people  intensely  is  more  acceptable  to  them  than  a man  who 
has  renounced  those  habits  and  yet  does  not  exhibit  a tender 
affection  and  considerateness.  Love  wins  love  in  all  spheres 
of  life,  and  it  does  not  require  a revolution  in  outward  cus- 
toms to  reveal  the  genuine  article  within.  Nevertheless,  it 
is  well  that  in  all  ways  and  in  all  departments  of  his  life  a 
missionary  should  aim,  both  intelligently  and  lovingly,  to 
come  close  to  the  people. 

(b)  The  Adoption  of  the  Ascetic  Life. — Again,  the  as- 
cetic type  of  life  has  been  adopted  by  a few  missionaries  in 
order  to  commend  their  message  to  the  people.  To  the  Hindu 
in  all  spheres  of  life  the  ascetic  life  has  a peculiar  appeal. 
It  represents  to  him  the  highest  type  of  piety  and  of  spiritual 
dignity.  The  renunciation  of  the  world  and  all  its  charms, 
and  even  of  many  of  its  necessities,  has  had  a peculiar  attrac- 
tion to  the  Hindu  mind  in  all  ages.  The  life  of  the  ascetic 
(yogi)  has  been  the  ideal  life  representing  humanity  at  its 
best,  and  also  representing  devotion  to  the  gods  in  its  most 
winsome  form.  It  might  not  be  unreasonable  to  expect  that 
a Christian  missionary  ascetic  would  possess  an  element  of 
peculiar  power,  commending  him  to  the  people  of  the  land. 
The  missionary  who  mingles  in  worldly  pursuits  and  amuse- 
ments and  to  whom  outward  blessings  and  comforts  of  life 
are  dear,  certainly  presents  to  the  Hindu  a difficult  problem 
for  solution.  He  hardly  understands  the  type.  Such  a 
method  of  life  does  not  tally  with  that  of  India’s  men  of  dis- 
tinguished fame  and  piety  and  devotedness  to  divine  things 

When,  however,  it  is  remembered  that  asceticism  in  India 
has  generally  been  a form  of  individualism  and  self-centered 
activity  which  is  antipodal  to  love  for  man  and  to  social  altru- 
ism and  service,  it  is  easy  to  see  why  the  Christian  type  of 
piety  should  be  exemplified  at  its  best,  not  in  ascetic  rigor  and 
renunciation  of  the  world  and  all  its  blessings,  but  rather  in  a 
tender  consideration  for  all  men  and  in  a readiness  to  give 
one’s  self  without  restraint  to  the  helpful  social  service  of 
India  and  its  people.  It  is  here  that  the  missionary  must 

69 


IX.  1.  (b)  PRESENTING  CHRISTL-KNITY  TO  HINDUS 


attain  unto  distinction,  and  it  is  by  this  method  that  he  must 
commend  his  faith  as  a living  and  an  attractive  power  to  the 
people  of  that  land.  No  Christian  missionary  can  equal  even 
the  ordinary  ascetic  (sadhu)  in  the  exhibition  of  rigorous 
ascetic  life.  Many  missionaries  who  have  not  altered  their 
accustomed  style  of  living  have  been  regarded  as  saints. 
-Moreover,  progressive  Hindus  are  becoming  concerned  to  de- 
termine how  their  bands  of  useless  “holy  men”  can  be  made 
to  minister  to  India’s  true  welfare  and  progress  in  a morally 
profitable  way.  Mere  asceticism  is  a decadent  and  disappear- 
ing type.  It  is  a better  policy  to  excel  in  Christ’s  way,  follow- 
ing the  Lord  in  an  unwearied  and  constant  effort,  however 
humble,  to  help  and  to  serve.  If  one  is  self-denying  in  man- 
ner of  life,  sympathetic  with  the  people,  treating  every  man 
with  true  respect  and  maintaining  perfect  self-control,  he 
will  soon  earn  such  a title  as  Maharishi  or  Yogi  or  Sadhu. 

2.  Through  Definite  Plans  for  the  Uplift  of  Womanhood. 
— One  of  the  most  fruitful  methods  of  missionary  activity 
is  definite  work  for  the  uplift  of  India’s  womanhood.  The 
women  of  India  afiford  the  highest  missionary  opportunity 
of  the  day  in  that  land.  They  represent  the  deepest  need  and 
the  grossest  injustice  of  that  country.  Efforts  put  forth  in 
their  behalf  promise  the  largest  results  and  greatest  efficacy 
among  Hindus.  The  disabilities  of  woman  are  many,  and 
the  injustice  man  has  heaped  upon  her  is  great.  Her  sweet 
and  gracious  personality  has,  under  these  adverse  circum- 
stances, been  so  wonderfully  preserved,  and  all  efforts  for 
her  emancipation  and  advancement  have  yielded  such  a 
harvest  of  blessing  to  the  people  that  the  missionary  must 
ever  keep  the  Hindu  woman  in  his  thought  and  in  his  plans 
as  the  best  channel  for  bringing  in  the  speedy  redemption  of 
that  land.  Woman  is  the  brightest  feature  of  Indian  life  at 
the  present  time.^  She  incarnates  the  piety,  the  devotion,  and 

* Noteworthy  is  the  testimony  of  a college  professor  on  this  point:  “If  I were  asked 

to  look  back  on  the  years  that  I have  spent  m India  and  point  out  what  had  impressed  me 
most  of  all,  I should  be  inclined  to  sav  the  gentleness  and  devotion  of  Indian  women." 
.Andrews,  The  Renaissance  in  India  (158),  p.  207. 

70 


AVENUES  OF  APPROACH 


IX.  3. 


the  sweetness  and  purity  of  character  which  render  life  in 
India  tolerable,  and  in  some  respects,  worthy.  When  she 
has  been  won  for  Christ,  the  complete  triumph  of  Christi- 
arlity  in  India  will  be  at  hand.  Her  great  influence,  despite 
her  apparent  isolation  and  her  innate  conservatism,  makes  her 
a powerful  cooperator  in  the  work  of  progressively  minded 
men.  All  departments  of  missionary  activity  on  her  behalf 
are,  consequently,  important.  There  is  great  need  of  more 
women  missionaries  who  can  study  to  enter  into  her  religious 
experience,  become  able  to  adopt  their  methods  of  teaching 
to  her  needs,  and  apply  themselves  more  fully  than  ever  to  the 
task  of  saving  India  through  its  womanhood. 

3.  Through  the  Mastery  of  the  Vernacular. — One  can- 
not overemphasize  the  importance  of  a thorough  knowl- 
edge, by  the  missionary,  of  the  language  of  the  people  among 
whom  he  is  working.  This  is  the  initial  and  supremely  im- 
portant duty  of  the  junior  missionary.  Whatever  depart- 
ment of  service  he  may  expect  to  enter,  a thorough  acquain- 
tance with  the  vernacular  of  the  people  is  essential.  He 
should  be  able  to  speak  and  to  read  the  language  freely  and 
fluently.  It  is  the  first  step  by  which  he  becomes  really  ac- 
quainted with  the  people,  with  their  methods  of  thought  and 
habits  of  life.  No  missionary,  whatever  his  line  of 
work,  can  afford  to  deny  himself  this  only  sure  right-of-way 
to  friendship  and  intimacy,  to  influence  and  power,  with  the 
people.  Very  ignorant  villagers  are  often  eloquent  speakers, 
and  all  India  loves  eloquence.  A facile  use  of  the  vernacular 
together  with  a burning  message  give  to  a missionary  great 
power  of  conversion.  While  the  first  year  or  two  of  the 
missionary’s  life  on  the  field  is  given  to  acquiring  the  lan- 
guage, a special  opportunity  also  is  afforded,  in  connection 
therewith,  thoroughly  to  study  the  people,  the  general 
environment  and  the  social  atmosphere.  It  is  a fallacy  of 
the  worst  kind  to  assume  that,  because  the  missionary  is  ex- 
pecting to  teach  English,  or  to  be  daily  associated  with  Eng- 

71 


IX.  3. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


lish-trained  Indians,  he  need  not  acquaint  himself  with  the 
vernacular.  One  of  the  most  pathetic  sights  of  India  is  that 
of  a man  who  has  crossed  seas  and  continents  to  carry  the 
Christian  gospel  to  a people  of  another  tongue,  who  is  never- 
theless content  to  reach  and  to  help  them  only  through  the 
medium  of  a foreign  tongue  or  of  an  inadequate  interpreter. 
Such  a limited  access  to  the  people  is  unworthy  of  anyone 
who  is  consecrated,  heart  and  soul,  to  the  missionary  cause. 
The  sure  way  to  stand  aloof  from  the  people  and  to  remain 
a practical  stranger  to  them  is  to  decline  to  face  the  initial 
duty  of  mastering  the  language  and  to  forego  the  supreme 
privilege  of  a happy  use  of  their  tongue. 

A failure  to  show  diligence  in  language  study,  during  the 
first  two  years  on  the  field,  is  justly  regarded  by  some  mis- 
sionary Societies  as  an  adequate  reason  for  the  recall  of  a 
missionary.  It  is  a question  whether  anything  can  atone  for 
the  failure,  on  the  part  of  a missionary,  to  overcome  this 
great  barrier  which  separates,  and  must  separate,  him  from 
the  life  and  heart  of  the  people.  Of  course  a mastery  of  the 
vernacular  is  not  of  equal  importance  in  all  departments  of 
work;  yet  there  is  no  sphere  of  missionary  life  in  which  a 
thorough  familiarity  with  the  language  of  the  people  does 
not  stand  in  the  forefront  among  the  essentials  of  missionary 
preparation. 

A familiarity  with  the  literature  of  the  vernacular  is  also 
a ready  means  of  approach  to  the  inner  life  and  higher 
thought  of  the  people.  For  most  thorough  training  and  effi- 
ciency the  missionary  will  find  important  aid  in  a good 
knowledge  of  the  Sanskrit.  Sanskrit  is  not  only  the  mother 
tongue  of  Hinduism,  it  is  also  the  chief  repository  of  its  relig- 
ious lore,  the  source  of  its  most  authoritative  teachings, 
and  the  parent  of  most  of  the  languages  of  North  India. 
Great  is  the  opportunity  of  him  who  enters  upon  his  mis- 
sionary career  possessed  fully  of  this  key  to  unlock  the 
treasures  of  Hindu  thought  and  to  interpret  the  deepest  relig- 

72 


AVENUES  OF  APPROACH 


IX.  4.  (b) 


ious  sentiments  of  the  country.  He  can  command  the  atten- 
tion and  the  deep  respect  of  the  people  for  any  message  he 
has  to  present,  if  he  can  quote  verbatim  from  the  Sanskrit 
shastras. 

4.  Through  Preparation  for  Specialised  Service. — As  the 
missionary  enterprise  advances,  it  becomes  more  complex  in 
its  character  and  manifold  in  its  forms  of  activity.  This  in 
turn  demands  a growing  amount  of  specialization,  both  in 
missionary  work  and  in  the  required  preparation  for  it.  This 
involves  a serious  danger  in  the  elimination,  or  at  least  the 
subordination,  of  the  “all  round,”  the  broadly  trained  mis- 
sionary. While  this  loss  is  in  itself  a serious  calamity,  yet 
the  necessities  of  the  work  among  Hindus  demand  increas- 
ingly men  and  women  whose  training  has  been  specialized 
with  a view  to  intensive  work  in  certain  departments. 

(a)  Evangelistic  Work. — The  preaching  of  the  gospel 
and  the  sharing  in  the  life  and  activities  of  the  churches  are 
primary  avenues  of  approach  to  the  hearts  of  the  people.  In 
no  other  line  of  work  does  the  missionary  find  himself  follow- 
ing more  closely  in  the  footprints  of  his  Master.  The  goal 
will  not  have  been  reached  until  there  has  developed  a na- 
tional church,  strong  enough  to  be  the  great  instrument  of 
evangelizing  the  Hindu  community.  It  should  be  the  joy  of 
many  missionaries  to  prepare  themselves  to  share  effectively 
in  this  great  movement  to  bring  personal  testimony  to  the 
good  tidings  of  a kingdom  of  heaven  at  hand. 

(b)  Educational  Work. — The  work  of  education  is  be- 
coming increasingly  important  as  a department  of  mission- 
ary work  in  India,  and  is  engaging  the  services  of  an  increas- 
ing number  of  missionaries.  In  the  higher  educational  work 
there  are  34  missionary  colleges,  in  which  9,160  students  are 
being  trained  under  a large  force  of  missionary  instructors.^ 
It  is  a work  of  far-reaching  influence  and  of  deepest  signifi- 
cance, especially  in  relation  to  evangelism  of  the  upper  classes 

' ‘‘World  Statistics  of  Christian  Missions/'  1916. 


73 


IX.  4.  (b)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 

and  to  the  building-  up  a new  system  of  Christian  thought  in 
India.  Whether  it  be  in  the  training  of  Christians  or  in  the 
impartation  of  the  higher  education  to  non-Christians,  the 
opportunity  furnished  is  wide  and  the  responsibilities  of  the 
work  are  increasingly  great.  Few  missionaries  in  India  enjoy 
more  inviting  opportunities  for  Christian  influence  than 
those  who  are  engaged  in  education.  The  teacher  is  tradi- 
tionally held  in  high  honor  by  Hindus,  and  hence  the  educa- 
tional missionary  is  inevitably  in  a position  to  touch  the  life 
of  the  community  in  which  he  resides  as  well  as  of  the  school 
in  which  he  is  training  leaders  for  the  life  of  India  and  send- 
ing them  forth  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  Christian  service. 
If,  however,  he  is  to  rise  to  these  opportunities,  he  must  have 
the  best  mental  training,  must  be  well  equipped  in  the  litera- 
ture and  philosophy  of  both  the  West  and  the  East,  and  must 
be  a man  preeminent  for  Christian  earnestness.  He  may  well 
make  a study  of  educational  systems  and  plans  in  order  to 
relate  most  helpfully  his  type  of  missionary  education  to  that 
of  the  government  and  of  private  schools,  each  of  growing 
importance  today. 

(c)  Literary  Work. — The  production  of  good  literature 
is  one  of  the  least  developed  forms  of  missionary  activity, 
although  it  perhaps  possesses  greater  potentialities  of  use- 
fulness in  the  propagation  of  Christianity  than  any  other. 
Christian  literature  is  to  become  a dominant,  as  it  will  be  a 
most  widely  prevalent,  agency  in  bringing  India  to  Christ. 
It  is  rapidly  increasing  in  its  outreach  and  in  its  manifold 
efficiency.  There  is  a growing  sentiment  among  missionaries 
in  India  and  among  Christian  leaders  in  America  that  in- 
creasing emphasis  must  be  laid  upon  the  use  of  good  litera- 
ture ; and  plans  are  now  being  perfected  to  add  greatly  to  the 
literary  output  of  missionaries  in  respect  to  books  intended 
both  for  Hindus  and  for  Indian  Christians.  The  young  mis- 
sionary may  well  covet  the  opportunity,  which  will  come  to 
him  with  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  people,  to  interpret  to 
them  in  their  own  language  some  of  the  ideas  which  have 

74 


AVENUES  OF  APPROACH 


IX.  4.  (e) 


Stirred  and  deepened  his  own  religious  life.  The  best  work, 
however,  will  ultimately  be  done  by  trained  Indian  scholars. 

(d)  Medical  Work. — While  the  Indian  government  is 
constantly  adding  to  its  medical  activities  and  agencies,  the 
need  of  medical  missionary  service  is  undiminished.  To  dis- 
cover, encourage,  educate  and  train  national  doctors  and 
nurses  is  one  of  the  greatest  services  which  a missionary  can 
render.  There  are  281  medical  missionaries  in  India,  con- 
ducting 183  hospitals  and  376  dispensaries,  in  which 
1,281,361  patients  were  given  3,584,617  treatments.'  Aledical 
missionary  work  excels  in  its  power  to  make  friends  for  the 
missionary  cause  and  in  its  ability  to  create  a very  welcome 
audience  for  the  gospel  message.  Every  missionary  doctor  is 
enabled  daily  to  present  to  his  patients  the  gospel  message  of 
the  divine  Physician  under  circumstances  most  favorable  to 
making  a strong  and  an  abiding  impression  upon  the  people. 
The  missionary  doctor  is  persona  grata  with  the  government, 
and  usually  commands  the  approval  and  the  cooperation  of 
government  physicians. 

(e)  Industrial  and  Agricultural  Work. — It  is  a compara 
tively  short  time  since  missions  generally  began  to  include  in- 
dustrial work  among  their  legitimate  departments.  Much 
is  now'  being  done  of  this  nature,  and  in  some  instances 
this  industrial  effort  has  accomplished  much  both  in  bring- 
ing souls  to  Christ  and  in  developing  in  not  a few  Christians 
the  ability  to  support  themselves  and  to  become  independent 
of  the  mission  in  matters  financial.  The  teaching  of  trades 
and  of  modern  methods  of  agriculture  have  a place  in 
mission  economy  in  that  they  help  the  people  toward  a life 
of  industrial  and  economic  betterment.  At  the  same  time  the 
people  are  made  more  accessible  to  the  highest  influences  of 
the  gospel.  Men  trained  for  this  definite  w^ork,  which  needs 
to  be  as  nearly  as  possible  self-sustaining,  will  find  an  ever- 
widening  field  for  influence  and  for  Christian  service  in 
India. 

'“World  Statistics  of  Christian  Missions.  1916.” 

7.S 


IX.  4.  (f)  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


(f)  Financial  and  Administrative  Work. — Missionary 
organization  has  reached,  in  many  parts  of  India,  an  ad- 
vanced stage  which  demands  so  much  of  administrative 
ability  and  financial  sagacity  that  men  with  these  special  gifts 
are  finding  and  will  increasingly  find  an  important  place 
among  the  mission  forces.  The  administration  of  the  busi- 
ness afifairs  and  of  the  finances  of  a great  mission  by  those 
who  have  had  a special  training  in  business  methods  and  are 
true  missionaries  in  purpose  and  spirit,  secures  a wonderful 
economy  and  energ}^  for  the  mission  work  as  a whole. 

(g)  Association  Work. — The  special  type  of  work  for 
young  men  and  young  women  which  combines  religious,  so- 
cial, educational  and  physical  aims  opens  an  attractive  and 
singularly  effective  avenue  of  service  on  the  mission  field. 

(h)  Philanthropic  and  Humanitarian  Work. — Much  has 
been  done  in  the  past,  and  more  will  be  accomplished  in  the 
future,  for  the  relief  of  distress  in  all  its  forms  in  India. 
There  are  in  that  land  a few,  yet  a steadily  increasing  num- 
ber, of  truly  indigenous  philanthropic  activities.  The  people 
are  kind  and  generous  to  the  people  of  their  own  caste  and 
creed;  but  pure  philanthropy,  the  love  of  man  as  such,  and 
an  organization  to  relieve  the  sufferings  of  humanity — these 
are  foreign  to  Hindu  life  and  thought.  Christianity  has  in- 
troduced such  service,  and  has  given  a wide  vision  of  benefi- 
cence and  usefulness  to  the  people  of  that  land.  There  are  two 
hundred  and  eighty-one  philanthropic  institutions  conducted 
in  India  by  missionaries,  in  which  unfortunates  are  being 
cared  for,  and  many  are  restored  to  normal  and  happier  con- 
ditions of  life.'  The  more  the  missionary  can  enlist  the  inter- 
est of  the  Indian  people  themselves  in  such  work,  the  better. 

X.  The  Controlling  Purpose  of  the  True  Missionary 

In  this  consideration  of  preparation  for  work  among 
Hindus,  the  controlling  purpose  of  the  missionary  should 
never  be  forgotten.  It  is  nothing  less  than  the  bringing  of 

‘ “World  Statistics  of  Christian  Missions,”  1916. 

76 


THE  CONTROLLING  PURPOSE 


X. 


men  and  women  everywhere  to  a knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ, 
and  through  Him  into  intelligent  fellowship  with  God  and 
into  right  relations  to  men.  In  the  effort  to  secure  an  ade- 
quate appreciation  of  and  a sympathy  with  the  vast  social  and 
philosophical  complexus  known  as  Hinduism,  for  which  this 
report  has  been  pleading,  the  candidate  or  young  missionary 
should  never  permit  himself  to  forget  that  his  work  is  with 
particular  folks — with  individuals  who  have  their  very  seri- 
ous moral  and  spiritual  needs — which  only  the  gospel  can 
satisfy.  Any  understanding  of  Hinduism  is  worse  than  use- 
less unless  it  makes  the  missionary  more  eager  to  help  the 
actual  individuals  who  are  about  him,  and  more  skilful  in 
bringing  to  them  the  riches  of  the  transforming  power  of 
Jesus  Christ.  Another  danger  is  that  the  candidate  or  the 
missionary  will  lose  sight  of  the  real  objective  because  of  the 
multiplicity  of  tasks  which  confront  him.  The  commendable 
and  strong  tendency  to  multiply  activities  and  departments 
of  missionary  work  is  not  without  its  perils.  Some  missions 
and  missionaries  tend  to  adopt,  without  examination,  every 
form  of  humanitarian  activity  that  suggests  itself.  Such 
new  lines  of  work  are  of  value  when  (and  only  when)  they 
help  to  carry  out  the  great  controlling  purpose  of  bringing 
men  into  vital  relations  with  God  through  Christ  and  into  the 
resulting  fellowship  with  the  people  about  them.  The  mission- 
ary is  an  educator  because  every  influential  Christian  com- 
munity must  be  intelligent,  with  trained  leaders  and  a body 
of  men  and  women  pledged  to  higher  ideals  of  national  life 
and  to  the  promotion  of  social  and  economic  progress  along 
Christian  lines.  Otherwise  the  Christians  will  never  be  able 
to  win  the  nations  for  Christ.  The  missionary  is  a physician 
and  philanthropist  because  thus  he  can  manifest,  truly  incar- 
nate the  spirit  of  his  Master,  and  thus  commend  the  gospel  to 
those  who  have  not  experienced  its  power.  The  missionary 
is  often  an  industrial  leader,  because  he  sees  that  the  Chris- 
tians must  be  trained  to  command  greater  material  resources, 

77 


X. 


PRESKNTINC;  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


if  they  are  to  be  able  to  support  Christian  institutions  and  to 
aid  in  constructing  the  new  industry  upon  Christian  prin- 
ciples.  The  missionary  constantly  tries  to  find  time,  in  the 
midst  of  the  most  pressing  duties,  to  become  the  friend  of 
those  with  whom  he  works  in  order  to  help  them  individually. 
But  the  missionary  is  more  than  an  educator,  physician, 
philanthropist,  industrial  pioneer  or  a friend  and  servant  of 
humanity,  or  else  he  is  false  to  his  Master  and  ceases  to  be  a 
true  missionary.  In  and  through  all  these  lines  of  activity 
he  is  ever  the  anointed  messenger  of  Jesus  Christ,  striving 
to  make  known  the  only  name  given  among  men  whereby  all 
must  be  saved.  This  is  his  peculiar  prerogative  and  privilege, 
which  he  must  ever  retain  and  exalt.  He  may  work  in  one 
department  or  another,  but  if  he  performs  every  task  “in 
Christ’s  name”  and  “for  Christ’s  sake”  he  will  be  the  true 
missionary.  He  will  find  his  greatest  joy  in  seeing  men  and 
women  become  the  loyal  and  loving  children  of  the  Heavenly 
Father,  who  would  have  all  men  live  together  as  His  children. 
In  every  case  it  must  be  the  animating  principle  of  the  life  of 
the  missionary  to  seek  to  bring  all  Hindus,  men  and  women, 
to  such  a knowledge  of  Jesus  Christ  that  His  love  shall 
become  a power  in  their  lives,  transforming  them  into  His 
likeness. 

XI.  Studies  of  Special  Value  to  One  Who  Is  to  Become 
A Missionary  to  Hindus 

The  following  lists  aim  to  indicate  those  studies  which  are 
of  prime  importance  for  the  candidate  or  the  missionary  who 
desires  to  interpret  Christianity  to  the  people  of  India.  Those 
general  studies  which  are  common  to  missionary  preparation 
for  all  fields  and  for  all  types  of  service  have  been  omitted, 
having  been  adequately  discussed  in  the  reports  of  commit- 
tees and  of  conferences  dealing  with  the  various  types  of  mis- 
sionary service,  already  issued  by  the  Board  of  Missionary 
Preparation. 


78 


STUDIES  OF  VALUE 


XI. 


1.  To  he  Pursued  at  College  or  at  a Training  School. 

English  literature  and  composition. 

Any  missionary  in  India  who  is  ignorant  of  English  literature  or 
who  is  crude  in  speech  or  composition  loses  hold  both  with  the 
British  and  with  the  educated  Indians,  who  have  often  a remark- 
able command  of  English. 

Philosophy. 

The  history  of  philosophy. 

Ethics. 

One  who  has  never  faced  the  fundamental  problems  of  philosophy 
and  ethics,  or  who  is  largely  ignorant  of  the  changing  phases  of 
human  thought  will  be  seriously  at  a loss  in  dealing  with  thought- 
ful, educated  Hindus. 

Elementary  astronomy. 

Hindu  society  is  strongly  influenced  by  astrological  superstitions, 
which  can  be  met  only  by  genuine  knowledge. 

The  history  of  India. 

Anthropology,  especially  as  related  to  religious  development. 

Any  good  course  on  modern  Asiatic  history  will  be  of  great  value. 

2.  To  be  Pursued  in  the  Professional  or  Graduate  Training  School. 

The  history  and  comparison  of  religions. 

Hindu  philosophy,  especially  in  its  historical  development. 

The  thoroughly  clear,  congruous  and  scientific  understanding  of 

Christian  theology. 

The  missionary  in  India  who  is  a leader  needs  to  have  a sure  grasp 
of  his  own  systems  of  thought  and  of  religion.  Young  missionaries 
often  fail  in  this  respect.  Their  conversation  or  teaching  lacks  the 
dynamic  which  comes  from  conviction  based  upon  an  adequately 
mastered  system  of  thought.  They  need  such  mastery,  both  as  a 
definite  basis  for  advanced  thinking  on  the  mission  field  and  as  a 
working  scheme  of  thought  which  must  be  related  to  India’s  sys- 
tems of  philosophy  by  one  who  hopes  to  be  helpful  to  educated 
Hindus  and  to  penetrate  the  thought  background  of  the  life  of 
India. 

The  Sanskrit  language  and  a few  of  its  classics. 

A year’s  course  in  Sanskrit  will  be  valuable  to  the  missionary 
who  is  fond  of  linguistic  studies.  It  will  give  him  a real  ad- 
vantage in  mastering  his  vernacular  and  in  opening  the  way  for 
studies  which  arouse  the  respect  of  the  people.  A knowledge  of 
Sanskrit  is  not,  however,  indispensable. 

The  ethical  and  social  teachings  of  Jesus. 

These  studies  may  fairly  be  classed  as  of  general  importance,  but 
they  should  be  especially  emphasized  by  one  who  proposes  to  work 
in  India,  where  their  simplicity  and  directness  give  them  great 
power. 

The  history  of  Christian  missions. 


79 


XI. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


3.  To  be  Pursued  during  the  Period  of  Specialization. 

The  intensive  history  of  Christian  Missions  in  India. 

The  special  missionary  problems  of  India. 

India;  the  land;  the  climate  and  its  effect  upon  life  and  charac- 
ter; the  races. 

The  history  of  India  during  the  last  four  centuries,  with  an  em- 
phasis upon  the  influence  of  Western  nations,  especially  of 
Great  Britain. 

The  careful  comparison  of  Hinduism  and  Christianity,  theo- 
retically and  practically. 

The  place  of  Mohammedanism  in  India. 

The  century  of  American  missionary  effort  in  India. 

Modern  India:  its  social,  political,  economic,  philosophical  and 
religious  problems. 

The  application  of  the  principles  of  phonetics  to  the  group  of 
languages  to  which  the  vernacular  of  the  missionary’s  field 
belongs. 

4.  To  be  Pursued  during  the  First  Period  of  Missionary  Service  in 

India. 

Many  of  the  subjects  mentioned  under  heading  3 above  will  be 
continued  during  the  years  on  the  field.  To  these  may  be 
added  such  topics  as  the  following: 

The  thorough  mastery  of  the  proper  Indian  vernacular. 

The  reading  of  its  classics. 

The  mastery  in  translation  at  least  of  the  more  important  and 
popular  works  in  Sanskrit. 

The  minor  religions  of  India:  their  constituencies,  history  and 
peculiarities. 

The  actual  working  of  the  non-Christian  religions. 

Modern  religious  movements  in  India. 

The  more  careful  study  of  Indian  religious  thinking  and  of  its 
contrasts  and  correlations  with  Christian  ideas,  e.  g.,  in  re- 
gard to  mysticism,  eschatological  teachings,  ethical  teachings. 
Karma  (the  principle  of  law  versus  the  supplementary 
principle  of  grace),  the  body,  the  soul,  etc. 


80 


STUDIES  OF  VALUE 


XI. 


The  educational,  social  and  religious  policies  of  the  government 
of  India  in  their  bearing  on  missionary  activity  and  policies. 

Recent  social  changes  in  India,  particularly  the  movements  for 
social  reform. 

The  development  of  the  indigenous  Indian  church. 

Mass  movements  toward  Christianity : their  causes,  their  char- 
acteristics, the  means  of  dealing  with  them. 

Indian  hymnology  and  music:  their  place  in  the  services  of  the 
Indian  Christian  Church. 

Movements  toward  Church  union  and  federation  in  India. 

5.  To  be  Pursued  during  the  First  Home  Furlough. 

The  primary  educational  purpose  of  the  missionary  during  his 
first  furlough  should  be  to  supply  the  deficiencies  in  his 
preparation  which  the  first  term  of  service  has  revealed,  to 
bring  himself  up  to  date  in  the  line  of  his  special  work  in 
India  and  to  familiarize  himself  with  the  new  views  and  new 
methods  in  related  fields. 

Among  the  topics  of  especial  value  are : 

A review  of  philosophy,  ethics  and  theology  with  the  purpose  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  new  developments  in  each. 

Comparative  theology. 

A comparison  of  the  pantheism  of  India  with  the  modern 
monism  of  the  West,  to  discover  their  relations. 

A study  of  the  place  of  India  in  the  world  and  of  the  message 
of  her  civilization  and  ideas  to  other  races  in  the  Far  East 
and  in  the  West. 

The  economic  and  sociological  history  of  India. 

The  by-products  of  the  missionary  propaganda  in  India. 

The  complete  message  of  the  missionary  to  Indian  peoples. 

Effective  methods  of  evangelism. 

The  reflex  influence  of  the  mission  Church  upon  the  churches 
at  home. 

The  place  of  denominationalism  and  federation  in  missions. 

6.  Studies  Which  Will  Demand  the  Permanent  Attention  of  the  Mis- 

sionary in  India. 

The  idiomatic  and  elegant  use  of  the  vernacular  and  the 
familiar  knowledge  of  its  literature. 


81 


XI. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


The  North  American  and  Hindu  types  of  life,  character  and 
point  of  view  in  their  differences  and  in  their  complemental 
features. 

Hindu  society  and  how  to  reform  it. 

Hindu  social  movements  and  the  attitude  of  the  missionary 
toward  them. 

The  position  of  women  in  Hinduism  and  its  uplift. 

The  animistic  element  in  Hinduism  and  its  influence  upon  the 
Indian  Christian  churches. 

The  ideas  of  sin,  of  faith,  of  individualism,  of  the  soul  and  of 
incarnation  as  found  in  Hinduism,  and  their  value  in  making 
the  transition  to  Christian  thinking. 

The  future  Indian  Christian  Church : its  full  self-realization, 
its  ecclesiastical  type,  and  its  place  in  Christendom. 

The  latent  spiritual  forces  in  India. 

The  recognition  and  worship  of  saints  in  Hinduism. 

The  deification  of  the  theoretically  atheistic  founders  of 
Buddhism  and  Jainism,  and  the  satisfaction  offered  by  Jesus 
Christ  to  the  demand  in  India  for  the  worship  of  a concretely 
divine  personage. 

The  reappearing  theistic  tendencies  in  Hinduism. 

XII.  Bibliography 

In  the  preparation  of  the  following  list  of  books  aid  has 
been  sought  from  all  available  sources.  In  general  only 
books  in  English  are  included. 

A.  Sources — In  Their  English  Translations. 

1.  Aiyar,  C.  N.  Krishnasamy,  and  Tattvabhushan,  P.  S.,  Sri  Sankaracharya. 

I.  His  Life  and  Times.  II.  His  Philosophy.  4th  ed.  Pp.  viii,  108. 

Madras,  Natesan,  n.d. 

2.  Arnold,  E.,  tr.  Indian  Idylls,  from  the  Sanskrit  of  the  Mahabharata. 

Pp.  xii,  282.  London,  Kegan,  Paul,  1909. 

A poetical  rendering  of  some  choice  selections,  including  the  poem  of  Nala  and 

Damayanti. 

3.  — The  Secret  of  Death.  Pp.  406.  London,  Kegan,  Paul.  6th  edit.,  1899. 

Includes  a free  translation  from  the  Sanskrit  of  one  of  the  most  important  Upanishads. 

4.  Avalon,  A.  Tantra  of  the  Great  Liberation.  Pp.  506,  London,  Luzac, 

1913. 

A translation  of  the  Mahd  -nirrdna-tantra. 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


5.  — ■ Hymns  to  the  Goddess.  Pp.  179.  London,  Luzac,  1913. 

Translations  of  hymns  of  praise  to  Sakti  taken  from  various  Tantras. 

6.  Barnett,  L.  D.  Bhagavad-Gita,  or  the  Lord’s  Song  (Temple  Qassics). 

Pp.  218.  London,  Dent,  1905. 

A reliable  translation  of  this  classic,  with  a useful  introduction. 

7.  Davies,  John.  The  Bhagavad-Gita  (Trubner’s  Oriental  Series).  With 

notes.  Pp.  216.  London,  Kegan,  Paul.  3rd  edit.,  1893. 

8.  — Hindu  Philosophy.  The  Sankhya  Karika  of  Iswara  Krishna.  An  expo- 

sition of  the  system  of  Kapila ; with  an  appendix  on  the  Nya^  and 
Vaiseshika  system.  Pp.  vi,  151.  London,  Trubner,  1881.  (Trubner’s 
Oriental  Series.) 

9.  Dutt,  M.  N.,  ed.  A Prose  English  Translation  of  the  Maha-nirvana-tantra. 

Pp.  xxxii,  315,  XXX.  Calcutta,  H.  C.  Dass,  1900.  (Wealth  of  India.) 

10.  — A Prose  English  Translation  of  Agni  Puranam.  Two  vols.  Calcutta, 

H.  C.  Dass,  1903-04.  (Wealth  of  India.) 

11.  — The  Garuda  Puranam.  Pp.  xvi,  784.  Calcutta,  H.  C.  Dass,  1908. 

(Wealth  of  India.) 

12.  — A Prose  English  Translation  of  Markandeya  Puranam.  Pp.  iv,  502. 

Calcutta,  H.  C.  Dass,  1896.  (Wealth  of  India.) 

13.  — A Prose  English  Translation  of  Srimadbhagavatam.  Incomplete- 

repeated  paging.  Calcutta,  H.  C.  Dass,  18%.  (Wealth  of  India.) 

14.  — A Prose  English  Translation  of  Vishnu  Puranam,  based  on  Prof.  H. 

H.  Wilson’s  translation.  Pp.  xii,  464.  Calcutta,  H.  C.  Dass,  1894. 
(Wealth  of  India.) 

15.  Dutt,  R.  C.  Mahabharata,  the  Epic  of  Ancient  India,  condensed  into  Eng- 

lish verse  (Tlie  Temple  Classics).  Pp.  188.  London,  Dent,  1903. 

16.  — The  Ramayana  and  the  Mahabharata,  condensed  into  English  verse. 

Pp.  xiv,  384.  London,  Dent,  1910. 

17.  — The  Epics  and  Lays  of  Ancient  India,  condensed  into  English  verse. 

3 vols.  Calcutta,  R.  P.  Mitra,  1903. 

The  previous  volume  with  versified  translations  from  the  Rig-Veda,  the  Upanishads, 
Sanskrit  poets  and  Buddhist  literature.  The  quality  of  the  versification  is  very  high. 

18.  Griffith,  R.  T.  H.,  tr.  The  Ramayan  of  Valmiki,  translated  into  English 

verse.  Five  vols.  London,  Trubner,  1870-74.  Obtainable  also  in  a 
cheaper  single-volume  edition,  published  by  Lazarus,  Benares,  1895. 

A fairly  reliable  rendering  of  the  first  six  books,  with  a prose  outline  of  the  last  book. 

19.  — The  Hymns  of  the  Atharva-veda,  with  a popular  commentary.  Two 

vols.  Benares,  Lazarus.  (Pandit,  new  series,  v.  15-19  supplement.) 

20.  — The  Hymns  of  the  Rig-veda.  Two  vols.  Benares,  Lazarus,  1889. 

21.  — The  Hymns  of  the  Sama-veda,  with  a popular  commentary.  Pp.  vi, 

338,  xxxviii.  Benares,  Lazarus,  1893. 

22.  — The  Texts  of  the  White  Yajur-veda.  Pp.  xx.  344.  Benares,  Lazarus, 

1899. 

23.  Govindacharya,  Swami  A.,  tr.  Life  of  Ramanujja.  Madras,  Murthy. 

24.  Growse,  F.  S.  The  Ramayana  of  Tulsi  Das.  Three  vols  in  one.  Alla- 

habad, Ram  Narain  Lai,  1914. 

This  version  of  the  great  epic  is  exceedingly  popular  in  Northern  India. 

25.  Jacob,  G.  A.  A Manual  of  Hindu  Pantheism,  the  Ved5nta-sara  (Triibner’s 

Oriental  Series).  Pp.  140,  3rd  edit.  London,  Kegan,  Paul,  1891. 

A translation  by  a competent  scholar  of  the  most  important  brief  Hindu  exposition  of 
pantheism. 


83 


Xll. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


26.  Kaegi,  A.  Rig-Veda,  the  Oldest  Literature  of  the  Hindus.  Translated  by 

R.  Arrowsmith.  Pp.  vii,  198.  Boston,  Ginn,  1886. 

Selections  from  the  oldest  Veda,  with  a critical  exposition.  Very  helpful. 

27.  Macauliffe,  M.  A.,  tr.  The  Sikh  Religion,  Its  Gurus,  Sacred  Writings 

and  Authors.  Six  vols.  Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1909. 

28.  Muller,  F.  M.,  ed.  The  Sacred  Books  of  the  East,  translated  by  various 

scholars.  Fifty  vols.  Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1879-1910. 

29.  Vols.  1 and  15.  The  Upanishads. 

30.  Vols.  2 and  14.  The  Sacred  Laws  of  the  Aryas. 

31.  Vol.  7.  Sacred  Institutes  of  Vishnu. 

32.  Vol.  8.  The  Bhagavad  Gita. 

33.  Vols.  12,  41,  43  and  44.  Sathapatha  Brahmana. 

34.  Vol.  25.  The  Laws  of  Manu. 

35.  Vols.  29  and  30.  The  Grihya-Sutras. 

36.  Vols.  32  and  46.  Vedic  Hymns. 

37.  Vols.  34,  38  and  48.  Badarayana.  The  Vedanta-Sutras. 

38.  Vol.  42.  Atharva  Veda. 

39.  Muir,  J.,  tr.  Original  Sanskrit  Texts  on  the  Origin  and  History  of  the 

People  of  India.  Five  vols.  London,  Triibner,  1872. 

Very  comprehensive.  A storehouse  of  extracts  (translated)  from  the  Vedas  and  the 
Puranas,  by  a reliable  Indologist. 

40.  — Metrical  Translations  from  San.skrit  Writers  (Triibner’s  Oriental 

Series).  Pp.  376.  London,  Kegan,  Paul,  1879. 

A rich  anthology  of  free,  metrical  renderings,  with  numerous  verbatim  translations  in 
prose,  and  with  parallels  from  classical  writers  and  from  the  Bible. 

41.  Pope,  G.  U.,  tr.  The  Tiruvagagam,  or  “Sacred  Utterances”  of  the  Tamil 

poet,  saint  and  sage  Manikka-Vagagar,  with  English  translation,  intro- 
duction and  notes.  Pp.  xcvii,  438.  Oxford,  Clarendon  Press,  1900. 

A collection  of  hymns  of  the  Saiva  revival  in  the  thirteenth  century,  addressed  to 
Siva. 

42.  Sinha,  N.,  tr.  The  Vaiseshika  Sutras  of  Kanada,  with  the  commentary  of 

Sankara  Misra.  Pp.  xxxvii,  339,  xvii.  Allahabad,  Panini  office,  1911. 
(Sacred  Books  of  the  Hindus,  v.  6.) 

43.  Tukaram,  Poems  of.  Translated  by  J.  N.  Frazer  and  K.  B.  Marathe. 

3 vols.  Madras,  C.  L.  S.,  1909-1915. 

These  devotional  poems,  by  the  most  famous  Hindu  saint  of  Western  India,  a man  of 
strong  ethical  sense,  are  very  influential  in  the  vernacular.  The  translating  of  the 
original  is  part  of  the  advanced  examination  of  missionaries  in  the  Marathi  language. 

44.  Wilkins,  Charles.  Fables  and  Proverbs  (Hitopadesa).  Introduction  by 

Henry  Morley.  New  York,  Routledge  (Phila.,  McKay),  1885. 

The  faithful  rendering  of  a very  ancient  and  highly  prized  collection  of  Hindu  fables. 

45.  Williams,  Monier.  Sakoontala,  or  The  Lost  Ring.  Pp.  236.  Dodd,  Mead, 

1885. 

The  finest  work  of  a great  Hindu  dramatist,  Kalidasa. 

46.  Wilson,  H.  H.,  tr.  The  Vishnu  Purana.  Six  vols.  London,  Triibner, 

1864-1877. 

One  of  the  most  important  of  the  exceedingly  popular  Hindu  Puranas. 

B.  Discussions  on  Hinduism  and  Brahmanism. 

47.  Banerjea,  K.  M.  Dialogues  on  the  Hindu  Philosophy,  comprising  the 

Nyaya,  the  Sankhya,  the  Vedanta;  to  which  is  added  a discussion  of  the 

84 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


authority  of  the  Vedas.  2d  ed.  Pp.  xix,  431.  London,  Christian  Lit- 
erature Society  for  India,  1903. 

Nos.  47,  53  and  79  are  interesting  as  illustrating  the  efforts  and  methods  of  Indian 
Christian  converts  to  describe  or  to  overthrow  Hindu  thought. 

48.  Barnett,  L.  D.  The  Heart  of  India ; sketches  in  the  history  of  Hindu 

religion  and  morals.  Pp.  122.  London,  Murray,  1908. 

A useful  series  of  extracts  from  classical  and  vernacular  Hindu  literature,  illustrating 
the  religious  idealism  of  the  people. 

49.  — Hinduism.  Pp.  vi,  66.  London,  Constable,  1906.  (Half-title:  Religions, 

Ancient  and  Modern.) 

Brief,  but  excellent  for  its  compass. 

50.  — Antiquities  of  India  (Handbooks  to  Ancient  Civilizations).  Pp.  xvi, 

306.  New  York,  Putnam,  1914. 

A valuable  summary  of  Indian  history  and  culture. 

51.  Barth,  A.  The  Religions  of  India.  Authorized  translation  by  J.  Wood. 

Pp.  xxiv,  309.  Boston,  Houghton,  1882.  (English  and  Foreign  Phil- 
osophical Library,  vol.  24.) 

The  translation  of  an  old,  but  still  reliable,  French  work. 

52.  Bhattacharya,  J.  N.  Hindu  Castes  and  Sects ; an  exposition  of  the  origin 

of  the  Hindu  caste  system,  and  the  bearing  of  the  sects  toward  each 
other  and  toward  other  religious  systems.  Pp.  xvii,  623.  Calcutta, 
Thacker,  1896. 

An  effort  by  a Hindu  to  explain  and  defend  the  Hindu  caste  system. 

53.  Bose.  Ram  Chandra.  Hindu  Philosophy  Popularly  Explained.  Pp.  vi, 

7-420.  New  York,  Funk,  1884. 

54.  Bose,  Sivachandra  V.  The  Hindoos  as  They  Are;  descriptions  of  manners, 

customs  and  inner  life  of  Hindoo  society  in  Bengal.  2d  ed.  rev.  and  enl. 
Pp.  xii,  343.  Calcutta,  Thacker,  1883. 

A good  description  of  Hindu  life  by  a Hindu. 

55.  Buhler,  J.  G.  On  the  Indian  Sect  of  the  Jainas,  tr.  from  the  German. 

Pp.  iv,  79.  London,  Luzac,  1903. 

56.  Caldwell,  Bishop  R.  A Comparative  Grammar  of  the  Dravidian  or  South 

Indian  Family  of  Languages.  3d  ed.  rev.  and  ed.  by  J.  L.  Wyatt  . . . 
and  T.  Ramakrishna  Pillai.  Pp.  xl,  640.  London,  Paul,  1913. 

A classic  on  the  Dravidian  aspects  of  Hinduism  and  on  its  languages. 

57.  Chariar,  T.  Rajagopala.  The  Vaishnavite  Reformers  of  India.  Pp.  160. 

Madras,  Natesan,  1909. 

The  lives  and  writings  of  seven  important  Hindu  religious  reformers. 

58.  Oayton,  A.  C.  The  Rig-Veda  and  Vedic  Religion,  with  Readings  from 

the  Vedas.  Pp.  292.  Madras,  Christian  Literature  Society  for  India. 
1913. 

A valuable  brief  manual  of  Vedic  religion. 

59.  Crooke,  W.  Hinduism.  Article  in  Hastings  Encyc.  R.  E.  Vol.  VI,  Pp. 

686-715.  New  York,  Scribner,  1913-1915. 

A valuable  sketch  of  Hinduism,  especially  in  its  modern  aspects. 

60.  — Images  and  Idols  (Indian).  Article  in  Hastings  Encyc.  R.  E.  Vol. 

VII,  Pp.  142-6.  New  York,  Scribner’s,  1915. 

61.  — The  Popular  Religion  and  Folk-lore  of  Northern  India.  Two  vols. 

London,  Constable.  New  edit,  1896. 

One  of  the  best  studies  in  this  subject. 

62.  — ' Things  Indian ; being  discursive  notes  on  various  subjects  connected 

with  India.  Pp.  xi,  .546.  New  York,  Scribner,  1906. 

.\  valuable  series  of  papers. 


8.S 


XII. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


63.  Davids,  T.  W.  Rhys.  Buddhist  India.  Pp.  xv,  332.  New  York,  Putnam, 

1903.  (Story  of  the  Nations.) 

A manual  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  the  Buddha  by  an  authority. 

64.  Deussen,  P.  Outlines  of  India  Philosophy  with  an  Appendix  on  the 

Philosophy  of  the  Vedanta  in  its  Relations  to  Occidental  Metaphysics. 
Pp.  vi,  70.  Berlin,  Curtius,  1907. 

65.  — The  Philosophy  of  the  Upanishads ; authorized  English  translation  by 

A.  S.  Geden.  Pp.  xiv,  220.  Edinburgh,  Clark,  1906.  (Religion  and 
Philosophy  of  India.) 

The  most  thorough  and  learned  treatment  on  the  Upanishads. 

66.  — Outline  of  the  Vedanta  System  of  Philosophy.  Tr.  by  J.  H.  Woods 

and  C.  B.  Runkle.  Pp.  45.  New  York,  Grafton  Press,  1906. 

A compact,  authoritative  synopsis  of  this  philosophy,  as  taught  by  Sankaracharya. 

67.  Dubois,  J.  A.  Hindu  Manners,  Customs  and  Ceremonies,  tr.  from  the 

author's  later  French  manuscripts  and  ed.  . . . by  Henry  K.  Beau- 
champ. Two  vols.  Oxford,  Clarendon  press,  1897. 

Quaint,  intimate  and  reliable  observations  concerning  the  life  and  habits  of  the  people  of 
India  in  the  eighteenth  century. 

68.  Dutt,  R.  C.  History  of  Civilization  in  Ancient  India,  based  on  Sanskrit 

Literature.  Three  vols.  Calcutta,  Thacker,  1889-90. 

A good  introductory  study. 

69.  — Indian  Poetry;  selections  rendered  into  English  verse.  Pp.  viii,  163. 

London,  Dent,  1904. 

70.  Eggeling,  H.  J.  Hinduism.  Article  in  Encyclopedia  Britannica.  11th  ed. 

Vol.  XIII.  Pp.  501-513.  Cambridge  University  Press,  1910-11. 

An  excellent  study  of  the  various  Hindu  sects. 

71.  Farquhar,  J.  N.  A Primer  of  Hinduism.  2d  ed.  rev.  and  enl.  Pp.  222. 

London,  Oxford  University  Press,  1912. 

An  authoritative  book  on  the  subject.  Hinduism  is  historically  treated,  and  is  illu- 
mined by  many  interesting  quotations  from  original  sources. 

72.  — Bhagavad-Gita.  Article  in  Hastings  Encyc.  R.  E.  Vol.  II,  535-8.  New 

York,  Scribner’s,  1913. 

73.  Frazer.  R.  W.  A Literary  History  of  India.  Pp.  xiii,  470.  New  York, 

Scribner’s,  1907. 

A helpful  introduction  into  the  whole  range  of  the  literature  of  North  and  South  India. 

74.  — Indian  Thought,  Past  and  Present.  Pp.  339.  London,  Unwin,  1915. 

An  attempt  to  show  the  influence  of  Indian  thought  on  Hindu  religious  beliefs  and 
social  conduct. 

75.  Fuller,  Sir  B.  Studies  of  Indian  Life  and  Sentiment.  Pp.  xiii,  360. 

London,  Murray,  1910. 

A thoughtful  study  by  a man  of  wide  experience  as  student  and  officer  in  India. 

76.  Garbe,  Richard.  The  Philosophy  of  Ancient  India.  Pp.  89.  (Thicago, 

Open  Court  Pub.  Co.,  1899. 

A very  valuable  brief  conspectus  of  different  systems  of  Hindu  philosophy. 

77.  Geden,  A.  S.  Studies  in  the  Religions  of  the  East.  Pp.  xv,  904.  London, 

Kelly,  1913. 

Sympathetic  and  learned  essays  by  a former  missionary  in  India. 

78.  Gilmore,  D..  and  Smith,  J.  F.  End  of  the  Law  of  Christ  and  Buddhism. 

Pp.  87.  Calcutta,  Association  Press,  1914. 

Very  brief,  but  a helpful  introduction. 

79.  Goreh,  N.  N.  Rational  Refutation  of  the  Hindu  Philosophical  Systems. 

tr.  from  the  original  Hindi,  printed  and  MSS.  by  Fitz-Edwara  Hall. 
Pp.  xii,  208.  London,  Christian  Literature  Society  for  India,  1897. 

An  acute  analysts  and  criticism  by  a notable  Brahman  convert. 


86 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


80.  Gough,  A.  E.  The  Philosophy  of  the  Upanishads  and  Ancient  Indian 

Metaphysics  (Trubner’s  Oriental  Series).  London,  Kegan,  Paul,  1891. 

Contains  translations  of  numerous  extracts  from  the  Upanishads. 

81.  Govindacharya,  A.  The  Divine  Wisdom  of  the  Dravida  Saints.  Pp.  xxiii, 

215.  Madras,  C.  N.  Press,  1902. 

82.  Grierson,  G.  A.  Bhakti-Marga.  Article  in  Hastings  Encyc.  R.  E.  Vol. 

II,  Pp.  539-551.  New  York,  Scribner,  1913-1915. 

The  best  available  discussion  of  bhakti. 

83.  Hackmann,  H.  Buddhism  as  a Religion.  Its  Historical  Development  and 

Its  Present  Conditions.  Pp.  xii,  315.  London,  Probsthain,  1910. 
(Probsthain’s  Oriental  ser.  vol.  II.) 

84.  Haigh,  Henry.  Some  Leading  Ideas  of  Hinduism : being  the  32nd  Fernley 

lecture  delivered  in  Manchester,  Aug.,  1902.  Pp.  xiv,  143.  London, 
Kelly,  1903. 

85.  Hopkins,  E.  W.  The  Great  Epic  of  India,  Its  Character  and  Origin. 

Pp.  xvi,  485.  New  York,  Scribner,  1902. 

86.  — The  Religions  of  India.  Pp.  xiii,  612.  Boston,  Ginn,  1895.  (Hand- 

books on  the  History  of  Religions.) 

The  most  scholarly  compendious  exposition  of  the  various  faiths. 

87.  — India,  Old  and  New.  Pp.  342.  New  York,  Scribner’s,  1901. 

A series  of  illuminating  essays. 

88.  Johnston,  C.  Karma : Works  and  Wisdom.  Pp.  56.  New  York,  Meta- 

physical Pub.  Co.,  1900. 

An  elaborate  explanation  of  Karma  by  a retired  Indian  civil  servant. 

89.  Kern,  H.  Manual  of  Indian  Buddhism.  Pp.  149.  Strassburg,  Triibner, 

1896. 

90.  Ketkar,  S.  V.  History  of  Caste  in  India.  Two  vols.  Pp.  192,  177.  Lon- 

don, Luzac,  1912. 

91.  Law,  N.  Studies  in  Ancient  Hindu  Polity.  Pp.  vii,  203.  London,  Long- 

man’s, 1914. 

A study  of  recently-discovered  works  on  old  Hindu  law. 

92.  Lyall,  A.  C.  Asiatic  Studies,  Religious  and  Social.  Two  vols.  London, 

Murray,  1899. 

These  are  volumes  of  deep  interest  and  rare  value  to  the  student  of  Indian  thought  and 
life. 

93.  — Hinduism.  (In  South  Place  Institute,  London,  “Religious  Systems  of 

the  World.”  Pp.  112-125.  London,  Sonnenschein.  1901.) 

Worthy  of  this  excellent  authority  on  Indian  thought. 

94.  Macdonell,  A.  A.  History  of  Sanskrit  Literature.  Pp.  ix,  472.  New 

York,  Appleton,  1900.  (Short  Histories  of  the  Literature  of  the 
World.) 

.\n  excellent  book  on  this  subject,  the  best  brief  manual  in  English. 

95.  Macnicol,  N.  Indian  Theism,  from  the  Vedic  to  the  Muhammadan 

Period.  Pp.  xv,  292.  London,  Milford,  1915.  (Religious  Quest  of 
India.) 

A fresh  and  thorough  treatment  of  a much  neglected  but  important  subject  by  the 
editor  of  the  Indian  Interpreter. 

96.  Maitra,  Harendranath.  Hinduism  the  World  Ideal.  Pp.  xv,  137.  New 

York,  Dodd,  Mead  & Co.,  1916. 

A very  one-sided  apologetic  foT  Hinduism  by  an  Indian  writer. 

97.  Martin,  E.  O.  The  Gods  of  India.  Pp.  xviii.  330.  New  York,  Dutton 

1914. 

A good  introduction  into  the  mazes  of  Hindu  mythology. 


87 


XII. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


98.  Menzies,  A.  The  Religions  of  India.  (In  his  “History  of  Religion;  a 

sketch  of  primitive  religious  beliefs  and  practices  and  of  the  origin 
and  character  of  the  great  systems.”  Pp.  322-351.  New  York,  Scrib- 
ner, 1895.) 

99.  Mitchell,  J.  M.  Hinduism,  Past  and  Present,  with  an  account  of  recent 

reformers  and  a brief  comparison  between  Hinduism  and  Christianity. 
Pp.  299.  London,  Religious  Tract  Society,  1885. 

A book  once  highly  useful,  now  rather  supplanted  in  actual  use  for  beginners  by  No.  71. 

100.  Moore,  G.  F.  History  of  Religions.  Vol.  I.  Pp.  xiv,  637.  New  York, 

Scribner’s,  1914. 

In  chapters  11-14  is  discussed  the  relation  between  the  pantheism  of  philosophy  and 
the  idolatry  of  the  masses  in  India. 

101.  Muller,  F.  M.  India:  What  Can  It  Teach  Us?  A course  of  lectures 

delivered  before  the  University  of  Cambridge.  Pp.  xviii,  282.  New 
York,  Funk  [1883]. 

102.  — The  Six  Systems  of  Indian  Philosophy.  Pp.  xxxi,  618.  New  York, 

Longmans,  1899. 

An  exposition  of  the  chief  accepted  systems  of  Indian  philosophy,  from  among  as  many 
other  less  important  ones. 

103.  — The  Vedanta  Philosophy.  Pp.  173.  London,  Longmans,  1894. 

A brief  summary  with  some  interesting  comparisons. 

104.  Murdoch,  J.  Popular  Hinduism.  Pp.  vi,  90.  London,  Christian  Literature 

Society  for  India,  1896. 

105.  — The  Religious  Sects  of  the  Hindus.  Pp.  vi,  164.  Madras,  Christian 

Literature  Society  for  India.  1904. 

106.  — Siva  Bhakti.  Pp.  iv,  76.  London,  Christian  Literature  Society  for 

India,  1902. 

Splendid  thesaurus  of  information  upon  many  aspects  of  Indian  religious  life  and 
thought. 

107.  Newcombe,  A.  C.  Village,  Town  and  Jungle  Life  in  India.  Pp.  417. 

Edinburgh,  Blackwood,  1905. 

108.  Noble,  M.  E.  (Sister  Nivedita)  Studies  from  an  Eastern  Home.  Pp. 

xlii,  213.  New  York,  Longmans,  1913. 

109.  — The  Web  of  Indian  Life.  Pp.  301.  London,  Heinemann,  1904. 

A brilliant  and  sympathetic  interpretation  of  Hinduism  by  an  adherent  of  Theosophy, 
which  lacks  perspective,  balance  and  safety.  She  describes  an  ideal  rather  than  a 
reality. 

110.  Oman,  J.  C.  The  Brahmans,  Theists  and  Muslims  of  India.  Studies  of 

goddess  worship  in  Bengal,  caste,  Brahmanism  and  social  reform.  Pp. 
XV,  341.  London,  Unwin,  1907. 

111.  — Cults,  Customs  and  Superstitions  of  India,  being  a revised  and  enlarged 

edition  of  “Indian  Life,  Religious  and  Social.”  Pp.  vii-xxii,  336.  Lon- 
don, Unwin,  1908. 

112.  — • The  Great  Indian  Epics;  stories  of  the  Ramayana  and  the  Mahabharata. 

Pp.  X,  256.  London,  Bell,  1899. 

A good  prose  version  of  selections  from  these  two  great  epics. 

113.  — The  Mystics,  Ascetics  and  Saints  of  India;  a study  of  Sadhuism,  with 

an  account  of  the  Yogis,  Sannyasis,  Bairagis  and  other  strange  Hindu 
sectarians.  Pp.  xv,  291.  London,  Unwin,  1905. 

Nos.  110,  111  and  113  are  interesting  discussions  of  these  subjects  by  a competent 
student  and  authority. 

114.  Padfield,  J.  E.  The  Hindu  at  Home;  being  sketches  of  Hindu  daily  life. 

Pp.  330.  Madras,  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1896. 

A valuable  study  and  description  of  an  orthodox  Hindu’s  home  and  its  life. 


88 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


115.  Ranade,  M.  G.  Religious  and  Social  Reform.  Bombay,  Oaridge,  1902. 

The  modern  reform  movements  of  India  viewed  by  one  of  the  sanest  of  the  reformers 
themselves. 

116.  Rapson,  E.  J.  Ancient  India,  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  First  Century. 

Pp.  viii,  199.  Cambridge,  University  Press,  1914. 

Brief,  but  most  interesting  studies  of  the  past,  by  the  Professor  of  Sanskrit  at 
Cambridge  University. 

117.  Risley,  H.  H.  The  People  of  India.  Pp.  xvi,  289.  Calcutta,  Thacker,  1908. 

A thorough  and  authoritative  discussion  of  the  people  of  India  as  discovered  through 
the  Decennial  Statistics  of  India. 

118.  Robinson,  E.  J.  Tales  and  Poems  of  South  India.  Pp.  388,  London,  T. 

Woolmer,  1885. 

A translation  of  many  of  the  religious  and  semi-religious  works  so  highly  prized  by 
the  people  of  Southern  India,  which  reveal  the  soul  of  the  people. 

' 119.  Sarkar,  J.,  tr.  Chaitanya’s  Pilgrimages  and  Teachings,  from  his  contempo- 
rary Bengali  biography,  the  Chaitanya-charita-nirita.  Pp.  xviii,  319. 
London,  Luzac,  1913. 

Chaitanya  was  an  evangelist  of  the  fifteenth  century,  one  of  those  who  ignored  caste. 
His  biography  is  one  of  the  great  books  of  Bengal’s  literature. 

120.  Schroeder,  Leopold  von.  Indiens  Litteratur  and  Cultur.  Pp.  785.  Leipzig, 

Haessel,  1887. 

A work  of  sterling  value  for  readers  of  German. 

121.  Sherring,  M.  A.  Hindu  Tribes  and  Castes.  Three  vols.  Calcutta,  Thacker, 

1872-81. 

A thorough  and  authoritative  study  of  the  subject. 

122.  Smith,  V.  A.  Early  History  of  India.  3rd  edit.  Pp.  512.  Oxford,  Claren- 

don Press,  1916. 

A very  valuable  study  of  the  early  eras. 

123.  Stevenson,  Mrs.  Sinclair.  The  Heart  of  Jainism.  Pp.  xxiv,  336.  London, 

Milford,  1915. 

A scholarly,  comprehensive,  and  sympathetic,  yet  discriminating,  treatment,  by  a mis- 
sionary among  the  Jains. 

124.  Vivekananda,  Swami.  Hinduism  as  a Religion.  Pp.  3-20.  New  York, 

Vedanta  Society,  1901. 

Addresses  of  Swami  Vivekananda  representing  the  religion  of  the  Hindus.  They 
lack  “historical  conscience.” 

125.  Weber,  A.  The  History  of  Indian  Literature,  translated  from  the  2nd 

German  ed.  Pp.  xii-xxiii,  360.  4th  edit.  London,  Triibner,  1904. 

Rich  in  historical  lore  on  ancient  Indian  literature. 

126.  Whitehead,  Right  Rev.  Henry.  The  Village  Gods  of  South  India  (Relig- 

ious Life  of  India  Series).  Pp.-  172.  Oxford  University  Press,  1916. 

A valuable  presentation  of  Dravidian  animistic  Hinduism  by  the  Anglican  Bishop  of 
Madras. 

127.  Wilkins,  W.  J.  Hindu  Mythology,  Vedic  and  Puranic.  2nd  ed.  Pp.  xviii, 

499.  Calcutta,  Thacker,  1900. 

128.  • — Modern  Hinduism.  Pp.  423.  London,  Thacker,  1900. 

Studies  by  a well  informed  missionary  in  Northern  India. 

129.  Williams  (Monier-Williams),  Sir  M.  Brahmanism  and  Hinduism;  or. 

Religious  thought  and  life  in  India,  as  based  on  the  Veda  and  other 
sacred  books  of  the  Hindus.  4th  ed.  Pp.  xxvii,  603.  London,  Murray, 
1891. 

Very  instructive  and  helpful,  based  on  abundant  scholarship. 

130.  — Hinduism.  Pp.  238.  London,  S.  P.  C.  K.,  1877. 

Brief  but  very  lucid  and  informing. 


89 


XII. 


PRESENTIXG  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


131.  Indian  Wisdom ; or,  Examples  of  the  religious,  philosophical  and  ethical 
doctrines  of  the  Hindus.  With  a brief  history  of  the  chief  departments 
of  Sanskrit  literature  and  some  account  of  the  past  and  present  cona- 
tion of  India,  moral  and  intellectual.  Pp.  575.  London,  Luzac,  1893. 

Of  very  great  value  for  every  student  of  Indian  religion  and  civilization. 

132.  — Religious  Thought  and  Life  in  India.  Pp.  xii,  520.  London,  Murray, 

1883. 

133.  Winternitz,  M.  Geschichte  der  Indischen  Litteratur.  Three  vols.  already 

published.  Leipzig,  Amerlang,  1904. 

A standard  authority,  probably  the  best  available  today. 

C.  Books  on  Modern  Religious  and  Social  Movements. 

134.  Chandavarkar,  Sir  Narayan  G.  Speeches  and  Writings.  Pp.  636.  Bom- 

bay, Manoranjan  Press,  1911. 

A volume  by  the  vice-chancellor  of  Bombay  University  and  Justice  of  the  High 
Court,  the  markedly  theistic  leader  of  the  Prarthana  Samaj,  the  reform  movement 
within  Hinduism  in  Western  India. 

135.  Chintamani,  C.  Y.,  ed.  Indian  Social  Reform.  (Addresses,  essays,  etc.) 

Four  parts  in  one.  Madras,  Minerva  Press,  1901. 

This  book  presents  with  fair  accuracy  the  strength  and  the  weakness,  the  scope  and  the 
limitations  of  the  Social  Reform  Movement  in  India  during  recent  times. 

136.  Collet,  S.  D.  Life  and  Letters  of  Raja  Rammohun  Roy.  Pp.  viii,  164. 

London,  Collet,  1900. 

A good  life  of  perhaps  the  most  remarkable  Hindu  of  the  nineteenth  century. 

137.  Coomerswamy,  Ananda  K.  Essays  in  National  Idealism.  Pp.  213.  Madras, 

Natesan,  1909. 

By  a radical  Indian  nationalist. 

138.  Depressed  Classes:  An  Enquiry  Into  Their  Condition  and  Suggestions 

for  Their  Uplift.  Pp.  268.  Madras,  Natesan,  1900. 

A remarkable  symposium  by  twenty  leading  Indians. 

139.  Farquhar,  J.  N.  Brahma  Samaj.  Article  in  Hastings  Encyc.  R.  E.  Vol. 

II.  Pp.  813-824.  New  York,  Scribner,  1913-1915. 

A very  clear  exposition  of  this  interesting  movement. 

140.  — Modern  Religious  Movements  in  India.  Pp.  xv,  471.  New  York,  Mac- 

millan, 1915.  (Hartford-Lamson  Lectures  on  the  Religions  of  the 
World.) 

An  exhaustive  and  dependable  narrative  and  estimate  of  present  day  religious  move- 
ments in  India. 

141.  Fleming,  D.  J.  The  Social  Mission  of  the  Church  in  India.  Pp.  24.  Cal- 

cutta, Association  Press,  1913. 

142.  — Social  Study  Service  and  Exhibits.  Pp.  224.  Calcutta,  Association 

Press,  1913. 

Reports  of  actual  experiments,  with  many  helpful  suggestions  for  social  workers. 

143.  Griswold,  H.  D.  Arya  Samaj.  Article  in  Hastings  Encyc.  R.  E.  Vol.  II. 

Pp.  57-62.  New  York,  Scribner,  1913-1915. 

144.  Jaini,  Jagmanderlal.  Outlines  of  Jainism.  Pp.  xl,  156.  Cambridge,  Uni- 

versity Press,  1916 

An  exposition  of  the  Jaina  faith  and  terminology  by  an  adherent. 

145.  Lillingston,  F.  The  Brahmas  Samaj  and  Arya  Samaj  in  Their  Bearing 

upon  Christianity:  A Study  in  Indian  Theism.  Pp.  120.  London  and 
New  York,  Macmillan,  1901. 

146.  Mozoomdar,  P.  C The  Life  and  Teachings  of  Keshub  Chunder  Sen.  Pp. 

XV,  532.  Calcutta,  Thomas,  1887. 

A fine  interpretation,  by  a friend  and  companion,  of  the  life  and  teachings  of  one  of 
India's  most  gifted  sons. 


90 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


IA7..  — The  Oriental  Qirist.  Pp.  193.  Boston,  Ellis,  1883. 

A remarkable  life  of  Christ  viewed  from  the  standpoint  of  the  Orient. 

148.  Muller,  F.  Max.  Ramakrishna;  His  Life  and  Sayings.  Pp.  x,  200.  Lon- 

don, Longmans,  1898. 

A strange,  fascinating  personality  who  held  spellbound  many  leading  modern  Indians. 

149.  Murdoch,  J.,  ed.  Brahma  Samaj  and  Other  Modern  Eclectic  Systems  of 

Religion  in  India.  Pp.  113.  Madras,  Christian  Literature  Society  for 
India,  1893. 

An  excellent  compilation. 

150.  Pratt,  J.  B.  India  and  Its  Faiths,  a Traveler’s  Record.  Pp.  xv,  482.  Bos- 

ton, Houghton,  1915. 

A new  book,  fresh  and  informing,  giving  an  interpretative  report  of  the  religious 
situation  today. 

151.  Rai,  Lajpat.  The  Arya  Samaj  ; an  account  of  its  origin,  doctrines  and 

activities  with  a biographical  sketch  of  the  founder.  Pp.  xxvi,  305. 
London,  Long^mans,  1915. 

A glorification  of  this  vigorous  Samaj  in  India,  by  one  of  its  enthusiastic  and  brilliant 
members. 

152.  — Young  India : An  Interpretation  and  a History  of  the  Nationalist 

Movement.  Pp.  257.  New  York,  Huebsch,  1916. 

A radical  plea  for  self-government  in  India  by  an  agitator. 

153.  Rhys,  E.  Rabindranath  Tagore;  a biographical  study.  Pp.  xvii,  157.  New 

York,  Macmillan,  1915. 

An  able  study  of  the  man  and  especially  of  his  writings. 

154.  Roy,  B.  K.  Rabindranath  Tagore,  the  Man  and  His  Poetry,  with  an  intro- 

duction by  Hamilton  W.  Mabie.  Pp.  223.  New  York,  Dodd,  1915. 

A life  of  Rabindranath  Tagore  by  a friend  and  fellow  countryman.  Well  written,  but 
one  sided  and  extravagant. 

155.  Tagore,  Devendranath  (Maharshi  Devendranatha  Thakura).  An  Auto- 

biography from  the  original  Bengali,  translated  by  Satyendranath 
Tagore  and  Indira  Devi.  Pp.  xlii,  295.  London,  Macmillan,  1914. 

A very  striking  autobiography  of  one  of  the  great  souls  and  saints  of  India,  and  the 
father  of  the  greater  son — Rabindranath  Tagore, 

156.  Tagore,  Rabindranath.  Sadhana:  The  Realization  of  Life.  Pp.  296. 

London  and  New  York,  Macmillan,  1914. 

A noteworthy  example  of  the  modern  reinterpretation  of  Hinduism  under  wider  inter- 
course with  Western  literature,  and  especially  with  Christianity.  By  a spiritually-minded 
Hindu. 


D.  Books  Relating  to  the  Impact  of  Christianity 

Upon  India. 

157.  Andrews,  C.  F.  North  India.  Pp.  xiii,  243.  London,  Mowbray  [first 

printed  1908].  (Handbooks  of  English  Church  Expansion.) 

158.  — The  Renaissance  in  India:  its  missionary  aspect.  Pp.  xii,  310.  London, 

United  Council  for  Missionary  Education,  n.d. 

A book  of  information,  thought  and  inspiration. 

159.  Beach,  H.  P.  India  and  Christian  Opportunity.  Pp.  viii,  308.  New  York. 

Student  Volunteer  Movement  for  Foreign  Missions,  1904. 

A handy  outline,  originally  prepared  as  a textbook.  Good  for  getting  a general 
impression. 

160.  Begbie,  H.  Other  Sheep : a missionary  companion  to  “Twice  Born  Men.” 

Pp.  xi,  355.  New  York,  Doran,  1912. 

A series  of  sketches  of  work  in  India,  mostly  among  the  less  known  types  of  people. 

91 


XII. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


161.  Carmichael,  A.  W.  Things  as  They  Are;  Mission  Work  in  Southern 

India.  Pp.  xvi,  303.  New  York,  Revell,  1906. 

A brilliant,  realistic,  but  one-sided  statement  of  conditions  in  India. 

162.  — Overweights  of  Joy.  Pp.  1,  300.  New  York,  Revell,  1907. 

This  book  presents  the  other  side  of  the  preceding  picture. 

163.  Chamberlain,  J.  Kingdom  in  India,  Its  Progress  and  Its  Promise.  Pp.  301. 

New  York,  Revell,  1908. 

A vivid,  almost  autobiographical  picture  of  the  missionary  enterprise  in  India. 

164.  Continuation  Committee  Conferences  in  Asia,  1912-13.  Pp.  488.  New 

York,  Continuation  Committee,  1913. 

Containing,  pp.  1-153,  the  findings  of  the  eight  conferences  held  in  India  by  Dr. 
Mott.  Important,  authoritative  statements  of  the  conditions  and  needs  of  missionary 
work  in  India. 

165.  Cowan,  M.  G.  The  Education  of  the  Women  of  India.  Pp.  256.  New 

York,  Revell,  [1912]. 

This  is  the  best  and  fullest  treatment  of  this  subject,  though  unfortunately  its  view  is 
too  exclusively  that  of  North  India. 

166.  Datta,  S.  K.  The  Desire  of  India.  Pp.  xii,  307.  London,  S.  V.  M.  U.,  1909. 

-An  excellent  brief  description  of  India  and  mission  work  there,  by  a leading  Indian 
Christian. 

167.  Deming,  M.  B.  Mosaics  from  India ; talks  about  India,  its  people,  religions 

and  customs.  Pp.  2%.  New  York,  Revell,  1902. 

A rather  sketchy  report. 

168.  Dilger,  W.  Salvation  in  Hinduism  and  Christianity ; a comparison  and  a 

contrast.  Pp.  537.  Mangalore,  Basel  Mission  Book  and  Tract  Deposi- 
tory, 1908. 

A strong  comparative  study  of  the  two  faiths  as  saving  systems. 

169.  Downie,  D.  The  Lone  Star.  The  History  of  the  Telugu  Mission  of  the 

American  Baptist  Missionary  Union.  Pp.  232.  Philadelphia,  American 
Baptist  Publication  Society,  1893. 

170.  Eddy,  G.  S.  India  Awakening.  Pp.  xii,  273.  New  York,  Missionary  Edu- 

cation Movement  of  the  United  States  and  Canada,  1911,  1912. 

A rousing  missionary  call  owing  to  the  new  conditions  which  prevail  in  India. 

171.  Farquhar,  J.  N.  The  Crown  of  Hinduism.  Pp.  469.  London,  Milford, 

1913. 

A scholarly,  exhaustive  and  very  valuable  study  of  the  present  mutual  relation  of  Chris- 
tianity and  Hinduism. 

172.  — The  Approach  of  Christ  to  Modern  India.  Pp.  47.  Calcutta,  Asso- 

ciation Press,  1913. 

An  admirable,  concrete  example  of  the  modern  method  of  presenting  Christ  to 
educated  modern  Indians. 

173.  Findings  of  the  Continuation  Committee  Conferences  Held  in  Asia, 

1912-13.  Edited  by  H.  P.  Beach.  Pp.  430.  New  York,  Student  Volun- 
teer Movement,  1913. 

A topical  arrangement  of  the  findings  of  these  conferences,  which  makes  them  more 
usable  as  a guide  book  for  missionary  strategy. 

174.  Fleming,  D.  J.  Devolution  in  Mission  Administration.  Pp.  310.  New 

York,  Revell,  1916. 

A valuable,  historical  study  of  the  administration  problem  of  transferring  responsi- 
bility to  the  indigenous  church. 

175.  — Suggestions  for  Social  Helpfulness.  Pp.  206.  Madras,  Natesan. 
Concrete  hints  which  have  stimulated  much  social  service  activity  among  Hindus. 

176.  Fuller,  Mrs.  M.  B.  The  Wrongs  of  Indian  Womanhood  . . . with  intro- 

duction by  Ramabai.  Pp.  302.  New  York,  Revell,  [1900]. 

92 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


177.  Hacker,  I.  H.  A Hundred  Years  in  Travancore,  1806-1906;  a history  and 

description  of  the  work  done  by  the  London  Missionary  Society  in 
Travancore,  South  India,  during  the  past  century.  Pp.  106.  London. 
Allenson,  1908. 

178.  Hall,  C.  C.  Christ  and  the  Eastern  Soul ; the  Witness  of  the  Oriental  Con- 

sciousness to  Jesus  Christ  (Fourth  Series  of  Barrow’s  Lectures).  Pp. 
xli,  208.  Chicago,  University  of  Chicago  Press,  1909. 

A suggestive  book,  conceived  in  Dr.  Hall’s  broad  spirit  of  sympathy. 

179.  Henderson,  Charles  R.  Social  Programs  of  the  West.  Pp.  xv,  167.  Chi- 

cago, University  Press,  1913. 

The  fifth  series  of  Barrow’s  lectures  in  India. 

180.  Hogg,  A.  G.  Karma  and  Redemption,  an  essay  toward  the  interpretation 

of  Hinduism  and  the  re-statement  of  Christianity.  Pp.  xiv,  138.  Lon- 
don, Christian  Literature  Society  for  India.  1910. 

A strong,  philosophical,  though  brief,  discussion  of  this  important  subject. 

181.  Holland,  W.  E.  S.  The  Goal  of  India.  The  Student  Christian  Movement. 

London,  1917. 

182.  Howells,  G.  The  Soul  of  India ; an  introduction  to  the  study  of  Hinduism, 

in  its  historical  setting  and  development  and  in  its  internal  and  historical 
relations  to  Christianity'.  Pp.  623.  London,  Clarke,  1913. 

A thorough  and  scholarly  study  of  India  and  its  faith  in  conflict  with  Christianity. 

183.  Hume,  R.  A.  An  Interpretation  of  India’s  Religious  History.  Pp.  5-224. 

New  York,  Revell,  1911. 

One  chapter  “How  Gangaram  became  acquainted  with  God,*'  suggests  the  presenta- 
tion of  the  gospel  to  an  uneducated  Hindu. 

184.  — Missions  from  the  Modern  View.  Pp.  292.  New  York,  Revell,  1905. 

185.  — The  Supreme  Person  and  the  Supreme  Quest.  Pp.  24.  Calcutta,  As- 

sociation Press,  1916. 

The  pamphlet  for  inquirers,  both  in  English  and  in  vernacular  translation,  which  was 
used  in  connection  with  Mr.  Eddy’s  evangelistic  campaigns  in  India. 

186.  Hunter,  W.  W.  The  Old  Missionary.  Pp.  116.  New  York,  Randolph. 

1895. 

A charming  story  about  a missionary  in  Bengal. 

187.  Jones,  J.  P.  India,  Its  Life  and  Thought.  Pp.  xvii,  448.  New  York, 

Macmillan.  1908. 

A study  of  Indian  life  and  ideals. 

188.  — India’s  Problem,  Krishna  or  Christ.  Pp.  13-369.  New  York,  Revell, 

1903. 

A study  of  the  missionary  enterprise  and  of  the  ancestral  faiths  of  India. 

189.  — The  Modern  Missionary  Challenge;  a study  of  the  present  day  world 

missionary  enterprise,  its  problems  and  results.  Pp.  361.  New  York, 
Revell,  1910. 

190.  — Year  Book  of  Missions  in  India.  Burmah  and  Ceylon.  Pp.  xvi,  780. 

Madras,  Christian  Literary  Society  for  India,  1912. 

A book  replete  with  valuable  information  about  missions  and  their  problems  in  India. 

191.  Lucas,  B.  Christ  for  India ; being  a presentation  of  the  Christian  message 

to  the  religious  thought  of  India.  Pp.  xi,  448.  London,  Macmillan,  1910. 

Nos.  191  and  192  are  keen,  thoughtful  and  stimulating  discussions  of  the  problems  of 
the  Christian  propaganda  in  India. 

192.  — The  Empire  of  Christ;  being  a study  of  the  missionary  enterprise  in 

the  light  of  modern  religjous  thought.  Pp.  vii,  151.  London,  Mac- 
millan, 1909. 


93 


XII. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


193.  — Our  Task  in  India;  shall  we  proselytize  Hindus  or  evangelize  India? 

Pp.  X.  183.  London.  Macmillan,  1914. 

A powerful,  but  radical,  statement  of  the  Christian  appeal  and  work  in  India. 

194.  Mason,  C.  A.  The  Little  Green  God.  Pp.  146.  New  York,  Revell,  1902. 

An  attractive  tale,  treating  satirically  the  craze  for  the  occult. 

195.  Mateer,  S.  The  Gospel  in  South  India;  or,  The  religious  life,  experience 

and  character  of  the  Hindu  Christians.  Pp.  255.  London,  Religious 
Tract  Society,  n.d. 

196.  Morrison,  J.  New  Ideas  in  India  During  the  Nineteenth  Century;  a study 

of  social,  political  and  religious  developments.  Pp.  xiii,  282.  Edinburgh, 
Morton,  1906. 

A strong,  suggestive  treatment  of  the  subject. 

197.  Murdoch,  J.  India’s  Needs,  Material,  Political,  Social,  Moral  and  Re- 

ligious. Pp.  146.  Madras,  The  Tract  Depot,  1886. 

198.  — The  Women  of  India  and  What  Can  Be  Done  for  Them.  Pp.  vi,  150. 

Madras,  Christian  Literature  Society  for  India,  1895. 

199.  — Indian  Missionary  Manual.  Pp.  535,  4th  ed.,  rev.  and  enlarged.  Lon- 

don, Nisbet,  1906. 

First  published  in  1864.  Out  of  date  in  many  details,  but  sound  in  general  prin- 
ciples. 

200.  Mylne,  L.  G.  Missions  to  Hindus;  a contribution  to  the  study  of  mission- 

ary methods.  Pp.  vii,  189.  London,  Longmans,  1908. 

By  a former  Anglican  Bishop  of  Bombay. 

201.  Pennell,  T.  L.  Among  the  Wild  Tribes  of  the  Afghan  Frontier;  a record 

of  sixteen  years  close  intercourse  with  the  natives  of  the  Indian  marches, 
with  introduction  by  Field-Marshal  Earl  Roberts.  Pp.  xvi,  17-323. 
London,  Seeley,  1909. 

202.  Phillips,  G.  E.  The  Outcast’s  Hope,  or.  Work  among  the  Depressed 

Classes  in  India.  Pp.  ix,  134.  London,  S.  V.  M.  U.,  1912. 

203.  Popley,  H.  A.  Suggestions  for  Social  Helpfulness.  Madras,  C.  L.  S. 
A pamphlet  prepared  for  the  evangelistic  campaign  of  the  South  India  United  Church. 

204.  Ramabai,  Pandita  S.  The  High-caste  Hindu  Woman.  New  ed.  Pp.  152. 

New  York,  Revell,  1901. 

An  interesting  stor^  by  a remarkable,  probably  the  most  famous,  Indian  Christian 
woman. 

205.  Ramakrishna,  T.  Life  in  an  Indian  Village.  Pp.  212.  London,  Unwin, 

1891. 

206.  Report  of  the  Third  (Bombay)  Decennial  Missionary  Conference  (1892). 

2 vols.  Bombay,  Education  Society  Press,  1893. 

207.  Report  of  the  Fourth  (Madras)  Decennial  Missionary  Conference  (1902). 

Pp.  367.  London  and  Madras,  C.  L.  S.,  1903. 

Important  surveys  for  each  decade. 

208.  Richter,  J.  A History  of  Missions  in  India.  Pp.  viii.  469.  Edinburgh, 

Oliphant,  1908. 

This  is  "facile  princeps”  the  history  of  missions  in  India — thorough  and  reliable. 

209.  Robinson,  C.  H.  The  Interpretation  of  the  Character  of  Christ  to  non- 

Christian  Races.  Pp.  200.  London,  Longmans,  1910. 

Well  informed,  sympathetic  and  discriminating. 

210.  Robson,  J.  Hinduism  and  Christianity.  Pp.  xv,  211.  Edinburgh,  Oliphant, 

1905. 

.4  sane  and  valuable  study  of  the  relationship  of  the  two  faiths. 


94 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


211.  Rudra,  S.  K.  The  Christian  Idea  of  the  Incarnation.  Madras,  Christian 

Literature  Society  for  India. 

An  interesting  study  by  an  Indian  Christian. 

212.  Russell,  N.  Village  Work  in  India.  Pp.  251.  New  York,  Revell,  1912. 

A study  of  missionary  methods  in  evangelization.  Forceful  pen-pictures  from  Cen- 
tral India. 

213.  Sharrock,  J.  A.  South  Indian  Missions,  containing  glimpses  into  the  lives 

and  customs  of  the  Tamil  people.  Pp.  viii,  312.  W’estminster,  S.  P.  G., 

1910. 

214.  Sherring,  M.  A.  History  of  Protestant  Missions  in  India  from  Their 

Commencement  in  1706  to  1881.  New  ed.  Pp.  xv,  463.  London,  Re- 
ligious Tract  Society,  1884. 

215.  Slater,  T.  E.  The  Higher  Hinduism  in  Relation  to  Christianitj' ; certain 

aspects  of  Hindu  thought  from  the  Christian  standpoint.  Pp.  vi,  292. 
London,  Stock,  1902. 

One  of  the  best  comparative  studies  of  the  higher  ranges  of  Hindu  and  of  Christian 
thought. 

216.  Smith,  G.  Conversion  of  India,  from  Pantaenus  to  the  Present  Time, 

A.  D.  193-1893.  Pp.  xvi,  258.  New  York,  Revell,  n.d. 

217.  Sorabji,  C.  Between  the  Twilights;  being  studies  of  Indian  women  by 

one  of  themselves.  Pp.  vii-xiii,  191.  New  York,  Harper,  1908. 

A notable  production,  in  beautiful  English  literary  style,  by  a leading  Indian  Christian 
woman. 

218.  Staecker,  J.  W.  The  Arsenal  for  Christian  Soldiers  in  India.  Pp.  542. 

Madras,  C.  L.  S.,  1910. 

A thorough-going,  practical  discussion  of  difficulties  likely  to  be  met  by  young  mis- 
sionaries. 

219.  Thoburn,  J.  M.  The  Christian  Conquest  of  India.  Pp.  7-10,  291.  New 

York,  Young  People’s  Missionar3'  Movement,  1906. 

A strong  book  of  popular  and  missionary  appeal,  written  by  a veteran. 

220.  Thompson,  E.  W.  The  Call  of  India;  a Study  in  Conditions,  Methods  and 

Opportunities  of  Missionary  Work  among  Hindus.  Pp.  xv,  319.  Lon- 
don, W.  M.  S.,  1912. 

221.  Tisdall.  W.  St.  C.  India,  Its  History,  Darkness  and  Dawn.  Pp.  170. 

London,  S.  V.  M.  U.,  1901. 

222.  Townsend,  M.  W.  Asia  and  Europe ; studies  presenting  the  conclusions 

formed  by  the  author  in  a long  life  devoted  to  the  subject  of  the  rela- 
tions between  Asia  and  Europe.  Pp.  xii,  404.  New  York,  Putnam, 

1911. 

An  interesting,  though  pessimistic,  study  of  the  contact  of  East  and  West. 

223.  Walter,  H.  A.  Handbook  of  Work  with  Student  Enquirers  in  India. 

Pp.  75.  Calcutta,  .'Association  Press.  1912. 

A manual  of  value  to  the  young  missionary  about  to  undertake  personal  evangelistic 
work  in  India.  It  contains  the  fruitage  of  much  ripened  missionary  experience. 

224.  World  Missionary  Conference,  1910.  Edinburgh  Conference  Reports. 

Nine  vols.  New  York,  Revell.  1910. 

225.  Vol.  1.  Carrying  the  Gospel  to  All  the  Non-Christian  World.  Pp. 

viii,  452  (135-163). 

226.  Vol.  2.  The  Cihurch  in  the  Mission  Field.  Pp.  xx,  380  (1-207). 

227.  Vol.  3.  Education  in  Relation  to  the  Christianization  of  National  Life. 

Pp.  XX,  471  (10-64  ; 256-263). 

The  most  valuable  and  authoritative  study  and  statement  of  the  missionary  enter- 
prise extant. 


95 


XII. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


228.  Vol.  4.  The  Missionary  Message  to  the  Non-Christian  Religions.  Pp. 

XX,  333. 

The  whole  book  is  valuable,  but  note  especially  pp.  156-219. 

229.  Vol.  5.  The  Preparation  of  Missionaries.  Pp.  x,  340. 

230.  Vol.  7.  Mission  and  Governments.  Pp.  x,  341. 

231.  Vol.  8.  Co-operation  and  Promotion  of  Unity.  Pp.  xiii,  241. 


E.  Biography  of  Missionaries  and  Indian  Christians. 


232.  Barber,  B.  R.  Kali  Charan  Banurji;  Brahmin,  Christian  saint.  Pp.  73. 

London,  Christian  Literature  Society  for  India,  1912. 

Nos.  232,  239,  241,  245,  247,  251,  afford  glimpses  of  the  lives  of  distinguished  Indian 
converts  and  leaders. 

233.  Bonar,  H.  A Missionary  of  the  Apostolic  School ; being  the  life  of  Dr. 

A.  Judson  of  Burmah.  Pp.  vii,  374.  London,  Nesbit,  1871. 

234.  Chambers,  J.  Bishop  Heber  and  Indian  Missions.  Pp.  viii,  148.  London, 

Parker,  1846. 

235.  Clark,  H.  M.  Robert  Clark  of  the  Panjab,  Pioneer  and  Missionary  States- 

man. Pp.  xii,  364.  London,  Melrose,  1W2. 

236.  Clough,  J.  E.  Social  Christianity  in  the  Orient — the  story  of  a man,  a 

mission  and  a movement,  written  down  for  him  by  his  wife,  Pp.  xiii, 
409.  New  York,  Macmillan,  1914. 

A stirring  life  amid  stirring  situations. 

237.  Coleridge.  H.  J.  Life  and  Letters  of  St.  Francis  Xavier.  Two  vols. 

Pp.  424,  579.  London,  Burnes  and  Oates. 

The  standard  life  of  this  great  Roman  Catholic  missionary,  written  by  a member  of 
the  Order  of  Jesuits. 

238.  Core,  L.  A.  The  Life  and  Work  of  William  Albert  Mansell.  Pp.  xiii,  201. 

Madras,  Methodist  Pub.  House,  1914. 

239.  Dhanjibhai  Nauroji.  From  Zoroaster  to  Christ;  an  Autobiographical 

Sketch.  Pp.  93.  Edinburgh,  Oliphant,  1909. 

240.  Dyer,  Helen  S.  Pandita  Ramabai,  Rev.  ed.,  Pp.  197.  New  York,  Revell, 

1911. 

The  story  of  this  well-known  Indian  leader,  from  her  birth  to  1900. 

241.  Gardner,  C.  E.  Life  of  Father  Goreh.  Pp.  xviii,  403.  London,  Long- 

mans, 1900. 

242.  Heber,  Bishop  R.  Narrative  of  a Journey  Through  the  Upper  Provinces 

of  India,  from  Calcutta  to  Bombay,  1824-1825  . . . An  Account  of  a 
Journey  to  the  Southern  Provinces,  1826.  4th  ed.  Three  vols.  London, 
Murray,  1829. 

243.  Holcomb.  Helen  H.  Men  of  Might  in  India  Missions.  Pp.  352.  New 

York,  Revell,  1901. 

244.  Judson,  Edward.  The  Life  of  Adoniram  Judson.  Pp.  601.  Philadelphia, 

.\m.  Bapt.  Pub.  Soc.,  1904. 

245.  Lee,  A.  J.  An  Indian  Priestess ; the  Life  of  Chundra  Lela.  Pp.  121. 

London,  Morgan  [1902]. 

246.  Mitchell,  J.  M.  Once  Hindu : Now  Christian ; the  Early  Life  of  Baba 

Padamanajl.  Pp.  x,  155.  New  York,  Revell  [1889]. 

247.  A Mohammedan  Brought  to  Christ,  being  the  autobiography  of  Dr.  Imad- 

ud-Din.  Pp.  22.  London,  Qiurch  Missionary  House,  1^5. 

Q6 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


248.  Morris,  A.  Life  of  John  Murdock,  LL.D.,  the  Literary  Evangelist  of 
India.  Pp.  285.  London,  C.  L.  S.,  1906. 

249  Ogilvie,  J.  N.  Apostles  of  India  (Baird  Lectures).  Pp.  ix,  447.  London, 
Hadden,  1915. 

Sketches  of  the  great  pioneers  from  St.  Thomas  to  Duff.  Very  moving. 

250.  Pearson,  H.  Memoirs  of  the  Rev.  Christian  Fr.  Schwartz.  Pp.  414.  New 

York,  Appleton,  1835. 

A later  biography  in  German,  by  Germann,  is  published  at  Erlangen,  1870. 

251.  Sketches  of  Indian  Christians,  collected  from  different  sources;  wiA  an 

introduction  by  S.  Satthianadhan.  Pp.  xviii,  257.  London,  Christian 
Literature  Society  for  India,  1896. 

252.  Small,  A.  H.  Suwarta  and  Other  Sketches  of  Indian  Life  Pp.  175. 

London,  Nelson,  1894. 

253.  Smith,  G.  The  Life  of  Alexander  Duff.  Two  vols.  New  York,  Arm- 

strong, 1880. 

254.  — The  Life  of  William  Carey,  Shoemaker  and  Missionary.  Pp.  ix,  326. 

London,  Dent,  1909. 

255.  — Henry  Martyn,  Saint  and  Scholar,  First  Modern  Missionary  to  the 

Mohammedans,  1781-1812.  Pp.  xii,  580.  London,  Religious  Tract 
Society,  1892. 

Nos.  253,  254  and  255,  brief  but  well-written  biographies  of  important  missionaries. 

2,56.  Speer,  R.  E.  Some  Great  Leaders  in  the  World  Movement  (Cole  Lec- 
tures). Pp.  205.  New  York,  Revell,  1911. 

Sketches  of  Lull,  Carey,  Duff,  Bowen,  Lawrence  and  Gordon. 

257.  Street,  W.  D.,  ed.  Was  It  Worth  While?  Pp.  178.  New  York,  Asso- 

ciation Press,  1915. 

An  appreciation  of  the  work  of  Theodore  Storrs  Lee,  an  ardent  and  successful  young 
American  missionary  in  Western  India,  who  died  after  the  first  term  of  service. 

258.  Thoburn,  J.  M.  My  Missionary  Apprenticeship.  Pp.  386.  New  York, 

Phillips  [1884]. 

The  autobiography  of  a missionary  statesman. 

259.  — Life  of  Isabella  Thoburn.  Pp.  373.  New  York,  Abingdon  Press,  1903. 

The  life  of  the  eminent  founder  of  the  first  Christian  college  for  women  in  India. 

260.  Thomssen,  G.  N.  Samuel  Hebich  of  India,  the  Master  Fisher  of  Men. 

Pp.  351.  Cuttock,  India,  Orissa  Mission  Press,  1905. 

The  pioneer  missionary  of  the  Basle  Mission.  A good  biography  in  German  is  pub- 
lished at  Basel,  1911. 

261.  Venn,  Henry.  Missionary  Life  and  Labors  of  Francis  Xavier.  Pp.  326. 

London,  Longmans,  1862. 

The  best  life  of  Xavier  by  a Protestant. 

262.  Wilson,  Mrs.  A.  Cams.  Woman’s  Life  for  Kashmir,  Irene  Petrie. 

Pp.  343.  New  York,  Revell,  1901. 

263.  Wyatt,  J.  L.  Reminiscences  of  Bishop  Caldwell. 

264.  — Missionary  Life  and  Labors  of  John  Wilson. 

F.  General  Books  on  India. 

265.  Alston,  Leonard.  Education  and  Citizenship  in  India.  Pp.  xii,  222.  Lon- 

don and  New  York,  Longmans,  1910. 

266.  Baden-Powell,  H.  H.  The  Indian  Village  Community.  Pp.  xvi,  450. 

London  and  New  York,  Longmans,  1896. 

A fine  study  of  the  land  question  in  India. 


97 


XII. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


267.  Banerjea,  P.  Indian  Economics.  Pp.  332.  London,  Macmillan,  1911. 

268.  Census  of  India,  1911.  Vol.  I,  Part  I,  The  General  Report.  Pp.  450.  Part 

II,  Tables.  Calcutta,  Sup’t  Gov’t  Printing;  London,  Wyman  & Sons, 
1914. 

Complete  summaries  and  explanations  of  the  results  of  the  last  census. 

269.  Chailley-Bert,  J.  Administrative  Problems  of  British  India,  translated 

by  W.  Meyers.  Pp.  xv,  590.  London,  Macmillan,  1910. 

270.  Chirol,  V.  Indian  Unrest.  Pp.  xvi,  371.  London,  Macmillan,  1910. 

reprint,  revised  and  enlarged,  of  articles  in  the  London  Times,  from  its  skilled 
correspondent  in  India.  Graphic,  yet  accurate,  observations  regarding  many  problems. 

271.  Crooke,  W.  The  Tribes  and  Castes  of  the  Northwest  Provinces  and 

Oudhe.  Four  vols.  Calcutta,  Government  Press,  1896. 

Like  Nos.  90  and  282,  this  work  is  a source  of  all  kinds  of  information  regarding  caste. 

272.  Dutt,  R.  C.  The  Economic  History  of  British  India;  a record  of  agri- 

culture and  land  settlements,  trade  and  manufacturing  industries,  finance 
and  administration  from  the  rise  of  the  British  power  in  1757  to  the 
accession  of  Queen  Victoria  in  1837.  Pp.  xxiv,  459.  London,  Paul,  1902. 

Not  altogether  reliable,  being  based  on  second-hand  sources. 

273.  Dutt,  Toru.  .Ancient  Ballads  and  Legends  of  Hindustan,  with  an  intro- 

ductory memoir  by  Edwin  Gosse.  Pp.  xxvii,  139.  London,  Kegan, 
Paul,  1888. 

The  work  of  a Hindu  poetess  of  great  skill. 

274.  Elphinstone,  M.  The  History  of  India : Hindu  and  Mahometan  Periods. 

Pp.  xxxii,  767.  9th  edit.  London,  Munag,  1905. 

A standard  history,  first  published  in  1839,  especially  authoritative  on  the  Mogul 
dynasties. 

275.  Fraser,  Sir  Andrew  H.  L.  Among  Indian  Rajahs  and  Ryots.  3rd  revised 

edit.  London,  Seeley,  1912. 

A sympathetic,  autobiographical  narrative  of  an  English  official’s  thirty-seven  years  of 
varied  service  in  India. 

276.  Gover,  C.  E.  The  Folk  Songs  of  Southern  India.  Pp.  xxviii,  299. 

Madras,  Higginbotham,  1871. 

277.  Harband,  Beatrice  M.  Jaya.  Pp.  302.  London,  Marshall,  1916. 

A thrilling  story  of  a Hindu  girl  of  high  degree,  as  maiden,  wife  and  mother. 

278.  Havell,  E.  B.  Benares,  the  Sacred  City ; sketches  of  Hindu  life  and  relig- 

ion. Pp.  xiii,  226.  London,  Blackie,  1905. 

279.  — Ideals  of  Indian  Art.  Pp.  xx,  188.  London,  Murray,  1911, 

280.  — Indian  Sculpture  and  Painting.  Pp.  278.  London,  Murray,  1908. 

281.  Hoernle,  A S.  R.  History  of  India.  Bombay,  Taraporvala  Sons  & Co., 

1916. 

The  most  up-to-date  short  history  of  India. 

282.  Holdich,  Sir  T.  H.  India  (Religions  of  the  World).  Pp.  xii,  375.  New 

York,  Appleton,  1905. 

A standard  manual  on  the  geography,  lines  of  natural  communication,  distribution  of 
races  and  modern  conditions  of  the  Indian  empire. 

283.  Holland,  Sir  T.  T.,  editor.  Provincial  Geographies  of  India.  Cambridge 

University  Press. 

Douie’s  ‘‘The  Panjab”  and  Thurston’s  ‘‘The  Madras  Presidency”  are  already  pub- 
lished in  this  valuable  series. 

284.  Hunter,  Sir  W.  W.  A Brief  History  of  the  Indian  Peoples.  Pp.  260. 

Oxford,  Clarendon  Press.  1907. 

285.  The  Imperial  Gazeteer  of  India.  New  ed.  Twenty-six  vols.  Oxford, 

Clarendon  Press,  1907-1909. 


98 


BIBLIOGRAPHY 


XII. 


286.  Vol.  1.  Descriptive.  Pp.  568. 

287.  Vol.  2.  Historical.  Pp.  573. 

288.  Vol.  3.  Economic.  Pp.  520. 

289.  Vol.  4.  Administrative.  Pp.  552. 

290.  Indian  Year  Book.  Edited  by  Sir  Stanley  Reed.  Bombay,  Times  of  India 

Press.  Yearly  since  1914. 

A statistical  and  historical  annual,  with  a discussion  of  the  important  problems  of 
each  year,  by  the  exceptionally  well  informed  editor  of  the  Times  of  India. 

291.  Jack,  J.  C.  The  Economic  Life  of  a Bengal  District.  Pp.  158.  Oxford, 

Clarendon  Press,  1916. 

292.  Kale,  V.  A.  Indian  Industrial  and  Economic  Problems.  Pp.  286.  Madras, 

Natesan,  1912. 

A quite  moderate  and  reliable  statement  of  some  of  the  problems  agitating  the  public 
mind  in  India. 

293.  Keene,  H.  G.  History  of  India  from  the  Earliest  Times  to  the  End  of  the 

Nineteenth  Century.  Two  vols.  Pp.  xvi,  380,  383.  Edinburgh,  Grant, 
1906. 

294.  Kipling,  R.  Kim.  Pp.  460.  New  York,  Doubleday,  1901. 

A story  worth  reading  to  get  the  atmosphere  of  India. 

295.  Lee-Warner,  W.  M.  The  Native  States  of  India.  Pp.  xxi,  425.  London, 

Macmillan,  1910. 

296.  Low,  Sidney.  A Vision  of  India.  Pp.  xiv,  365.  London,  Smith,  Elder  & 

Co.  2nd  edit,  1907. 

The  writer,  who  accompanied  King  George  on  an  early  visit  to  India,  gives  the 
atmosphere  of  India  admirably,  but  knows  little  of  the  country's  religious  needs. 

297.  Marshman,  J.  C.  History  of  India.  Three  vols.  Edinburgh,  Blackwood, 

1867 ; abridged  edition,  1876. 

298.  Matthai,  J.  Village  Government  in  British  India.  Pp.  xix,  211.  London, 

Unwin,  1915. 

299.  Miller,  Principal  W.  Unrest  and  Education  in  India.  Pp.  69.  Edinburgh, 

Blackwood,  1911. 

300.  Memorandum  on  Some  of  the  Results  of  Indian  Administration  During 

the  Past  Fifty  Years  of  British  Rule  in  India.  Pp.  34.  London,  Wtunan, 
1909. 

A very  valuable  Parliamentary  report,  with  authoritative  facts  and  comparisons. 

301.  Morison,  Sir  T.  The  Economic  Transition  in  India.  Pp.  251.  London, 

Murray,  1911. 

302.  — The  Industrial  Organization  of  an  Indian  Province.  Pp.  334.  London, 

Murray,  1906. 

303.  Mukerjea,  R.  The  Foundations  of  Indian  Economics.  Pp.  xvii,  575. 

London  and  New  York,  Longmans,  1916. 

An  interesting  study  of  village  conditions  in  India,  by  an  Indian  scholar. 

304.  Naidu,  Sarojini.  The  Bird  of  Time : Songs  of  Life,  Death  and  the  Spring. 

Pp.  116.  London,  Heinemann,  1912. 

305.  — The  Golden  Threshold.  Pp.  98.  New  York,  Lane,  1916. 

306.  — The  Broken  Wing.  Pp.  120.  New  York,  Lane,  1917. 

Poems  by  an  accomplished  Hindu  poetess. 

307.  Parliamentary  Report  on  the  Moral  and  Material  Progress  and  Condition 

of  India.  Published  annually  in  June.  London,  Wyman. 

Unsurpassed  for  comprehensive  and  accurate  general  information. 


09 


XII. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


308.  Penny,  Mrs.  F.  E.  The  Outcaste,  a Story.  Pp.  426.  London,  Chatto,  1912. 

309.  — The  Sanyasi.  Pp.  372.  London,  Chatto,  1909. 

310.  Phear,  Sir  J.  The  Aryan  Village  in  India  and  Ceylon.  Pp.  Ivi,  295. 

London,  Macmillan,  1880. 

311.  Quinquennial  Review  of  Education  in  India.  (Latest  issue,  1907-12.) 

Delhi,  Government  Book  Depot. 

312.  Ranade,  M.  G.  Essays  on  Indian  Economics.  Madras,  Natesan,  1906. 

By  a very  able  Indian  leader,  a Justice  of  the  High  Court  of  Bombay. 

313.  Rice,  H.  Native  Life  in  South  India.  Pp.  160.  London,  R.  T.  Soc,  n.  d. 

314.  Russell,  R.  V.  The  Tribes  and  Castes  of  the  Central  Provinces  of  India. 

Four  vols.  Pp.  XXV,  426,  540,  589,  608.  London  and  New  York,  Mac- 
millan, 1916. 

Sketches  which  include  studies  of  the  various  religious  types. 

315.  Smith,  H.  B.  L.  Studies  in  Indian  Economics.  Pp.  125.  London,  Con- 

stable, 1909. 

Lectures  delivered  for  the  Government  of  Bombay  by  an  English  expert.  Brief,  but 
comprehensive  and  reliable. 

316.  Statistical  Abstract  Relating  to  British  India.  Pp.  300.  London,  Wyman. 

An  annual  Parliamentary  Report  of  every  kind  of  statistics  about  India. 

317.  Steele,  Mrs.  F.  A.  India  Through  the  Ages ; a popular  and  picturesque 

history  of  Hindustan.  Pp.  xvi,  366.  London,  Routledge,  1909. 

318.  — On  the  Face  of  the  Waters.  Pp.  vi,  475.  New  York,  Macmillan,  1896. 

319.  Strachey,  J.  India;  Its  Administration  and  Progress.  Pp.  xxii,  515.  New 

York,  Macmillan,  1903. 

320.  Tagore,  Rabindranath.  Collected  Works : Chitra,  Crescent  Moon,  The 

Gardener,  Gitanjali,  Personality,  King  of  the  Dark  Chamber,  and  others. 
About  fifteen  volumes.  London  and  New  York,  Macmillan,  1913-15. 

A spiritual-minded,  creative  poet,  with  the  view-ijoint  of  the  Brahma-Samaj  with  whose 
writings  every  student  of  India  should  be  familiar. 

321.  Taylor,  Col.  Meadows.  Confessions  of  a Thug.  New  edit.  Pp.  452. 

London,  Kegan,  Paul,  1889. 

This  narrative,  first  published  in  1839,  remains  a real  classic  on  Hindu  village  life. 

322.  Thompson,  E.  W.  History  of  India  for  High  Schools  and  Colleges. 

Pp.  439.  London,  Christian  Literature  Society  for  India  [1912]. 

323.  Thurston,  E.  The  Tribes  and  Castes  of  Southern  India.  Seven  vols. 

Madras,  Government  Press,  1909. 


324.  Heritage  of  India  Series.  Edited  by  the  .\nglican  Bishop  of  Dornakal  and 

J.  N.  Farquhar.  Oxford  University  Press,  1915. 

325.  Religious  Life  of  India  Series.  Edited  by  J.  N.  Farquhar.  Oxford  Uni- 

versity Press,  1917. 

No.  126  belongs  to  this  series. 

326.  Religious  Quest  of  India  Series.  Edited  by  J.  N.  Farquhar  and  H.  D. 

Griswold.  Oxford  University  Press,  1915. 

Nos.  95  and  123  belong  to  this  promising  series. 

.327.  Wisdom  of  the  East  Series.  Edited  by  L.  Crammer  Byng.  London,  John 
Murray;  New  York,  Dutton. 

A popular  presentation,  partly  critical  and  partly  through  excerpts  of  the  writings 
of  the  East.  No.  48  belongs  to  this  series. 


100 


READING  COURSES 


XIII. 


328.  The  Indian  Social  Reformer.  Edited  by  K.  Natarajan,  Bombay. 

The  most  influential  weekly  published  in  India  by  an  Indian. 

329.  The  Indian  Review  (Madras),  the  Hindustan  Review  (Allahabad),  the 

Modern  Review  (Calcutta),  and  East  and  West  (Bombay). 

These  monthlies  discuss  various  problems  and  developments  of  the  Indian  empire, 

330.  The  Young  Men  of  India.  Calcutta,  Association  Press. 

A very  high-grade  monthly,  almost  indispensable  to  the  young  missionary  who  is  to 
work  among  educated  Indians. 

331.  The  Harvest  Field.  A monthly.  Mysore,  Wesleyan  Mission  Press. 

332.  The  Indian  Interpreter.  A quarterly.  Madras,  Christian  Literature 

Society. 

333.  The  Indian  Witness.  A weekly.  Lucknow,  Methodist  Publishing  House. 

Publications  of  much  value  to  the  alert  missionary. 

XIII.  Suggested  Reading  Courses  for  Those  Preparing 
FOR  Missionary  Work  in  India. 

The  preceding  report  is  intended  to  be  of  service  both  to  the 
prospective  missionary  candidate  and  also  to  the  junior  mis- 
sionary, as  well  as  to  all  who  are  interested  in  the  study  of 
Hinduism  from  a missionary  standpoint.  Its  bibliography 
therefore  has  been  made  quite  extensive  to  cover  a wide  range 
of  reading.  To  prevent  it  from  bewildering  the  inexperienced 
student  and  to  guide  the  reading  of  those  who  are  in  various 
stages  of  preparation  for  efficiency,  the  following  suggestions 
are  made : 

1.  For  the  Reading  of  a Student  in  College  or  Undergraduate 
Training  Institution. — The  books  mentioned  below  are  excellent  in 
quality,  but  untechnical.  They  will  serve  as  an  introduction  to  India 
as  a field. 

(a)  A Bird’s  Eye  View. — A good  sketch  is  Beach,  “India  and 
Christian  Opportunity”  (159),  or  Eddy,  “India  Awakening”  (170),  or 
Tisdall,  “India,  its  History,”  etc.  (221),  or  Thoburn,  “The  Christian 
(Conquest  of  India”  (219). 

(b)  The  History  of  India. — A standard  history  of  moderate  size, 
generally  available  and  accurate  down  to  1911,  is  Hunter,  “Brief  His- 
tory” (284).  A good  recent  work  covering  the  new  period  since  the 
change  of  the  capital  to  Delhi  is  that  by  Hoernle  (281).  Another  ex- 
cellent general  history  is  Thompson  (322). 

(c)  The  Atmosphere  of  India. — Kipling’s  “Kim”  (294),  or  Steele’s 
“On  the  Face  of  the  Waters”  (318),  or,  for  an  earlier  period.  Col. 


101 


XIII. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


Taylor’s  “Confessions  of  a Thug”  are  capital  stories.  Fraser’s  “Among 
Indian  Rajahs  and  Ryots”  (275)  is  a similar  book  of  real  value.  Read 
with  discrimination  three  journalistic  narratives,  Low’s  “Vision  of 
India”  (296),  Collier’s  “The  West  in  the  East,”  or  Curtis’s  “Modern 
India,”  give  graphic  impressions  of  the  country  and  its  people. 

(d)  Social  Conditions. — Rice,  “Native  Life”  (313),  or  Padfield, 
“The  Hindu  at  Home”  (114),  or  Chirol,  “Indian  Unrest”  (270),  will 
throw  light  on  the  environment  of  the  working  missionary. 

(e)  The  Hindu  Religion. — Excellent  books  for  an  introduction  to 
this  subject  are  Farquhar’s  “Primer  of  Hinduisru”  (71),  or  Williams’ 
“Hinduism”  (130),  or  Barnett,  “Hinduism”  (49).  Pratt,  “India  and 
its  Faith”  (150),  may  be  read  subsequently  with  much  profit.  Martin, 
“The  Gods  of  India”  (97),  gives  much  detailed  information  concerning 
the  gods  and  the  traditions  relating  to  them,  but  may  be  confusing  to 
a novice. 

(f)  Missionary  Biography. — Three  representative  lives  worth 
knowing  about  are  described  in  Smith’s  “Life  of  William  Carey”  (254), 
the  autobiography  of  Bishop  Thoburn  (258),  and  Mrs.  Clough’s  story 
of  the  Ongole  mass  movement  (236). 

(g)  The  Missionary  Enterprise. — Jones,  “India’s  Problem”  (188), 
or  Chamberlain,  “Kingdom  in  India”  (163),  or  Murdoch,  “India’s 
Needs”  (197),  will  open  a reader’s  eyes  to  the  work  that  needs  to  be 
done. 

2.  For  the  Reading  of  the  Graduate  or  Professional  Student. — This 
list  represents  books  of  a more  advanced  character  than  those  noted  in 
the  preceding  section. 

(a)  History  of  India. — Read  the  historical  volume  (287)  in  the 
“Imperial  Gazetteer,”  the  most  authoritative  single  volume  published. 
Such  histories  as  those  of  Keene  (293),  or  Elphinstone  (274)  are  re- 
liable up  to  1911,  but  must  be  supplemented  by  works  covering  the  last 
decade.  For  the  early  history  see  Vincent  Smith  (122).  For  the 
important  period  of  the  Mutiny  read  Elphinstone’s  “History  of  the 
Mutiny,”  or  one  of  the  stirring  biographies  of  Lord  Lawrence,  or  of 
Havelock. 

(b)  The  Literature. — For  a good  introduction  read  Macdonell’s 
"History  of  Sanskrit  Literature”  (94),  and  Frazer’s  “A  Literary  His- 
tory of  India”  (73),  or  Weber’s  “History  of  Indian  Literature”  (125). 


READING  COURSES 


XIII. 


Translations  worth  reading  are  Kaegi’s  “Rig  Veda”  (26),  Dutt,  “Rama- 
yana  and  Mahabharata”  (16),  Barnett,  “Bhagavad  Gita”  (6),  T.  Dutt’s 
“Ancient  Ballads”  (273)  and  Muir’s  “Original  Sanskrit  Texts”  (39), 
or  “Metrical  Translations”  (40). 

(c)  The  Religioits  of  India. — Two  standard  works  are  by  Hopkins 
(86)  and  Barth  (51).  “The  Imperial  Gazetteer  of  India,”  vol.  1 (286), 
ch.  VIII  on  “Religions”  is  very  thorough  and  informing. 

(d)  Modern  Religious  Movements. — Nothing  more  illuminating 
than  Farquhar’s  “Modern  Religious  Movements”  (140)  has  been 
written  up  to  date,  except  Pratt’s  “India  and  Its  Faiths”  (150). 

(e)  Christian  Missions  in  India. — The  standard  history  is  by 
Richter  (208).  Smith’s  “Conversion  of  India”  (216)  is  excellent.. 

(f)  Missionary  Biography. — Read  the  life  of  Duff,  the  scholaf- 
statesman,  by  Smith  (253).  Ogilvie’s  “Apostles  of  India”  (249), 
Edward  Judson’s  “Life  of  Judson”  (244),  and  the  life  of  Xavier  by 
Coleridge  (237),  or  by  Venn  (261),  are  full  of  value. 

(g)  Social  and  Economic  Problems. — Baden-Powell’s  “Indian 
Village  Community”  (266),  Phear’s  study  of  the  village  system,  “The 
Aryan  Village”  (310),  Mukerjea’s  “Foundation  of  Indian  Economics” 
(303),  and  Matthai’s  “Village  Government”  (298)  will  serve  to  in- 
troduce the  thoughtful  student  to  many  of  the  peculiar  problems  of 
India. 

3.  For  Readifig  During  the  Period  of  Specialization. 

(a)  The  Intensive  Study  of  India. — Chally-Bert,  “Administrative 
Problems  of  British  India”  (269),  and  Dutt,  “The  Economic  History 
of  British  India”  (272)  make  a good  basis  for  such  a study,  along 
with  Baden-Powell’s  study  of  the  land  question,  Holdich’s  topo- 
graphical manual  (282)  and  Jack’s  thorough  study  of  “The  Economic 
Life  of  a Bengal  District”  (291).  For  the* caste  system  see  Sherring’s 
“Hindu  Tribes  and  Castes”  (121)  and  the  authoritative  volume  on 
Caste  in  the  Census  Report  of  India  of  1911. 

(b)  The  Comparison  of  Hinduism  and  Christianity. — The  pre- 
eminent Christian  critique  on  Hinduism  is  Farquhar’s  “Crown  of 
Hinduism”  (171).  Other  studies  of  value  are  Slater’s  “Higher  Hin- 
duism” (215),  or  Robson,  “Hinduism  and  Christianity”  (210). 


103 


XIII.  PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 

(c)  The  Problems  of  Modern  India. — These  problems,  especially 
those  which  are  political  in  origin,  will  be  greatly  accentuated  and  com- 
plicated after  the  war.  Only  the  recent  books  will  be  of  much  value 
except  by  way  of  background.  Chirol,  “Indian  Unrest”  (270),  and 
La j pat  Rai,  “Young  India”  (152),  should  be  examined.  Ranade 
(115),  Chintamani,  “Indian  Social  Reform”  (135),  Kale,  “Indian  In- 
dustrial and  Economic  Problems”  (292),  and  Chailly-Bert,  “Admin- 
istration Problems”  (269),  will  be  helpful. 

(d)  Problems  of  Missionary  Administration. — For  discussions  of 
such  problems  the  files  of  such  journals  as  The  Harvest  Field  (331) 
should  be  consulted.  Note  also  the  Continuation  Committee  Confer- 
ence Reports  (164)  or  the  sections  on  India  of  the  World  Missionary 
Conference  Reports  (224).  A noteworthy  contribution  to  the  im- 
portant problem  of  dealing  with  the  indigenous  church  is  Fleming, 
“Devolution”  (174). 

XIV.  Selected  References  to  Paragraphs. 

The  following  references  are  intended  to  be  of  service  to 
the  student  who  desires  to  study  intensively  any  of  the  num- 
bered sections  of  the  report.  The  figures  and  titles  indicate 
the  sections  referred  to. 

I.  1.  Racial  Types. — Hunter,  “Indian  Empire,”  and  Holdich, 
“Peoples  and  Races  of  India”  (Home  University  Library).  Holder- 
ness,  “Peoples  and  Problems,”  chapter  HI.;  Risley,  “The  People  of 
India”  (117)  ; Lyall,  “Asiatic  Studies”  (92)  ; Imperial  Gazetteer  of 
India,  vol.  I,  ch.  VI.  (286). 

I.  2.  Civilization. — Keene,  “History  of  India”  (293) ; Smith, 
“Early  History”  (122)  ; Dutt,  “Civilization  in  Ancient  India”  (68). 

H.  1.  (a).  Vedic  Origin. — Kaegi,  “Rig-Veda”  (26);  Muller, 

“Vedic  Hymns”  (36) ; Muir,  “Sanskrit  Texts”  (39)  ; Clayton,  “Rig- 
Veda”  (58)  ; Frazer,  “Literary  History”  (73). 

H.  1.  (b).  Ceremonial  Brahmanism. — Muller,  “Satapatha  Brah- 

mana”  (33),  and  “Grihya-Sutras”  (35)  ; Frazer,  “Literary  History,” 
ch.  V.  (73) ; Macdonell,  “Sanskrit  Literature,”  pp.  202-208  (94) ; 
Muller,  “Ancient  Sanskrit  Literature,”  pp.  342-455 ; Hopkins,  “Re- 
ligions of  India,”  ch.  IX.  (86)  ; Williams,  “Hinduism,”  ch.  V.  (130). 


104 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 


XIV. 


II.  1.  (c).  Philosophical  Brahmanism. — Bose,  "Hindu  Phil- 

osophy” (53)  ; Davies,  “Hindu  Philosophy”  (8)  ; Garbe,  “Philosophy 
of  Ancient  India”  (Open  Court  Series),  ch.  I.  (76)  ; Muller,  “The 
Upanishads”  (29) ; Banerjea,  “Dialogues  on  the  Hindu  Philosophy” 
(47)  ; Deussen,  “Outlines  of  Philosophy”  (64),  and  “Philosophy  of 
the  Upanishads”  (65)  ; Macdonell,  “Sanskrit  Literature”  (94),  ch. 
XV.;  Barnett,  “Bhagavad-Gita”  (6),  the  Introduction;  Muller,  “Six 
Systems”  (102)  and  “Vedanta  Philosophy”  (103)  ; Goreh,  “Rational 
Refutation”  (79). 

II.  1.  (e).  Buddhism  and  Jainism. — Kem,  “Manual”  (89)  ; 

Davids,  “Buddhist  India”  (63) ; Hackmann,  “Buddhism  as  a Re- 
ligion” (83)  ; Stevenson,  “Heart  of  Jainism”  (123)  ; Jaini,  “Outlines  of 
Jainism”  (144)  ; Hopkins,  “Religions  of  India,”  chaps.  XII.,  XHI. 
(86);  Geden,  “Studies”  (77);  Rapson,  “Ancient  India”  (116). 

II.  1.  (f).  Incarnation. — Farquhar,  article,  “Bhagavad-Gita”  in 

Hastings  Encyclopedia  Religion  and  Ethics  (72),  and  Barnett, 
“Bhagavad-Gita”  (6)  ; Davies,  “The  Bhagavad-Gita”  (7)  ; Farquhar, 
“Modern  Religious  Movements”  (140), 

II.  1.  (g).  Modern  Cults.  Murdoch,  “Popular  Hinduism”  (104), 
and  “Religious  Sects”  (105);  Oman,  “Cults,  Customs,  etc.”  (Ill); 
Wilkins,  “Modern  Hinduism,”  section  on  Sects  (128)  ; Williams, 
“Brahmanism  and  Hinduism”  (129),  chaps.  HI.-VHI. ; “Hinduism” 
(130),  chap.  X. 

II.  2.  (a).  Pantheism. — See  Haigh,  “Some  Leading  Ideas  of 

Hinduism,”  Part  II.  (84),  or  Gough,  “Philosophy  of  the  Upanishads” 
(80),  or  Jacob,  “Manual  of  Pantheism”  (25)  ; Deussen,  “Philosophy 
of  the  Upanishads”  (65)  ; Muller,  “Vedanta  Philosophy”  (103). 

II.  2.  (b).  Polytheism  and  Idolatry.  Read  Crooke’s  articles  in 

Hastings  Encyclopedia  Religion  and  Ethics  on  “Images  and  Idols” 
(Indian)  (60),  and  on  “Hinduism”  (59).  See  also  Williams,  “Hindu- 
ism,” ch.  XH.  (130)  ; and  Farquhar,  “Crown  of  Hinduism,”  chap. 
VIII.  (171). 

II.  2.  (c).  Karma. — Haigh,  “Leading  Ideas  of  Hinduism”  (84), 
Part  L;  Hogg,  “Karma  and  Redemption”  (180) ; Johnston,  “Karma” 
(88);  Farquhar,  “Crown  of  Hinduism”  (171),  chap.  HI.;  Muller, 
“Vedanta  Philosophy”  (103),  p.  165. 

II.  5.  Modern  Reform  Movements. — Farquhar,  “Modern  Religious 
Movements  in  India”  (140)  and  “Brahma  Samaj”  (139);  Collet, 


105 


XIV. 


PRESENTING  CHRISTIANITY  TO  HINDUS 


“Rammohun  Roy”  (136);  Griswold,  “Arya  Samaj”  (143);  Lajpat, 
“The  Arya  Samaj”  (151)  ; Mozoomdar,  “Keshub  Chunder  Sen”  (146)  ; 
Murdoch,  “Brahma  Samaj”  (149);  Lillingston,  “Brahma  Samaj  and 
Arya  Samaj”  (145)  ; Pratt,  “India  and  Its  Faiths”  (150). 

III.  Hinduism  and  Christianity  Related. — Farquhar,  “The  Crown 
of  Hinduism”  (171),  and  “Approach  of  Christ”  (172)  ; Howells,  “The 
Soul  of  India”  (182),  Books  IV.,  V.;  Robson,  “Hinduism  and  Chris- 
tianity” (210),  chap.  XHI. ; Slater,  “Higher  Hinduism”  (215) ; “Dia- 
logue on  Christianity  and  Hinduism”;  Hall,  “Christ  and  the  Eastern 
Soul”  (178) ; Hume,  “Interpretation”  (183),  chap.  V.,  and  “Missions” 
(184). 

IV.  1.  The  Literature  of  Hmduism. — The  Imperial  Gazetteer  of 
India,  vol.  II.  (287),  pp.  247,  248  or  271,  ch.  VI.  Sanskrit  Literature, 
and  ch.  VI.,  Vernacular  Literature. 

IV.  2.  Its  Voluminous  and  Varied  Character. — Arnold,  “Indian 
Idylls”  (2)  ; Diitt,  “Ramayana,”  etc.  (16) ; Griffith,  “Ramayana  of  Val- 
miki”  (18);  Grouse,  “Ramayana  of  Tulsi  Das”  (24);  Wintemitz, 
“Geschichte”  (133);  Weber,  “History  Indian  Literature”  (125); 
Frazer,  “Literary  History  of  India”  (73)  ; Hopkins,  “Great  Epic  of 
India”  (85). 

IV.  5.  Its  Literary  Value. — Pope,  “Tiruvacagam”  (41);  Govin- 
dacharya,  “Divine  Wisdom  of  the  Dravida  Saints”  (81);  Frazer, 
“Literary  History”  (73) ; Tagore,  “Gitanjali”  (320). 

IV.  6.  Its  Deterioration. — Dutt,  “Wealth  of  India  Series”  (9-14)  ; 
Macdonell,  “History^  of  Sanskrit  Literature”  (94). 

V.  The  Missionary’s  Attitude  Toward  the  Religion. — Thoburn,  “My 
Missionary  Apprenticeship”  (258);  Begbie,  “Other  Sheep”  (160); 
Andrews,  “The  Renaissance  in  India”  (158);  Walter,  “Handbook” 
(223) ; Hume,  “Interpretation”  (183)  ; Farquhar,  “Crown  of  Hindu- 
ism” (171);  especially  the  Introduction;  Jones,  “Year  Book”  (190), 
chap.  HI. 

VI.  The  Missionary  s Attitude  Toward  the  People. — Hunter,  “The 
Old  Missionary”  (186);  Fraser,  “Among  Indian  Rajahs  and  Ryots” 
(275). 

VII.  The  Missionary  Message. — Edinburgh  Report,  Vol.  4 (228), 
especially  chap.  VI.;  Robinson,  “Interpretation  of  the  Character  of 
Christ”  (209),  especially  chap.  II.;  Farquhar,  “Approach  of  Christ  to 

106 


SELECTED  REFERENCES 


XIV. 


Modem  India”  (172)  ; Hume,  “Missions”  (184)  ; chaps.  VII.,  VIII.; 
“Supreme  Person”  (185)  ; Hall,  “Christ  and  the  Eastern  Soul”  (178). 

VIII.  Lessons  From  Past  Missionary  Effort. — Howells,  “Soul  of 
India,”  Book  V.  (182),  or  Richter,  “History”  (208),  or  Smith,  “Con- 
version of  India”  (216),  are  excellent.  See  also  Jones,  “Year  Book” 
(190),  chapter  V. 

IX.  Avenues  for  Missionary  Approach. — The  “Findings”  of  the 
Continuation  Committee  Conferences  in  India  (164)  are  well  worth 
study.  Among  the  many  good  references  may  be  mentioned  Fleming, 
“Suggestions”  (175),  “Social  Study”  (142),  and  “Social  Missions” 
(141);  Farquhar,  “Modern  Religious  Movements”  (140),  ch.  VI.; 
Popley,  “Suggestions”  (203)  ; Chintamani,  “Indian  Social  Reform” 
(135)  ; files  of  the  Indian  Social  Reformer  (328),  and  the  Depressed 
Classes  Symposium  (138). 


107 


INDEX 


Administrative  missionary  service  in 
India,  76. 

Agricultural  missionary  service  in  In- 
dia, 75. 

Aryan  languages  of  today  in  India,  42. 

Arya  Samaj,  31. 

Association  service  in  India,  76. 

Atonement,  Hindu  idea  of,  in  contrast 
to  that  of  Christianity,  35. 

Avatar  (incarnation),  29. 

Bhagavad  Gita,  known  as  the  Hindu’s 
Bible,  43,  a beautiful  poem,  25. 

Bhakti  (devotion),  29,  35,  39,  43. 

Brahma,  the  absolute,  20,  24,  58,  59. 

Brahma,  the  creator,  34. 

Brahma  Samaj,  31. 

Brahman,  the,  his  dominance,  22,  25. 

Brahmanas,  their  character,  22,  41. 

Brahmanism,  ceremonial,  the  second 
stage  of  Hinduism,  22,  institutional 
Brahmanism  of  today,  24,  59. 

British  Protestant  mission  work  in  In- 
dia, 66. 

Buddha,  his  reform  movement,  25. 

Buddhism,  its  impersonal  appeal,  59; 
dominance  of,  25. 

Caste  in  India,  how  acquired,  29,  at- 
titude of  Syrian,  Roman  Catholic  and 
Danish  churches  to,  65 ; its  authority, 
30;  its  social  effect,  61. 

Christianity,  what  it  has  in  common 
with  Hinduism,  33-36;  its  contrasts 
with  Hinduism,  36-40;  its  religious 
importance,  33 ; social  influence  of, 
33. 

Contents,  11-13. 

Controlling  purpose  of  the  missionary, 
76-78. 

Danish  missions  in  India,  65. 

Decalc^ue,  how  emphasized  in  India, 

56. 

Deity  of  Christ,  readily  accepted  by 
Hindus,  62. 

Dravidian  languages  of  today,  42. 

Dravidian  peoples,  17. 

Educational  service  in  India,  73. 

Faith,  Hindu  idea  of.  35. 

Future  existence  in  Hinduism,  38. 

Hindu  mind,  its  characteristics,  18-20, 
its  complemental  relation  to  ^e  Oc- 


cidental mind,  45 ; its  sensitiveness, 
47 ; its  passive  temperament,  20,  46. 

Hindu  religion,  evolution  of,  21-26. 

Hinduism,  Animistic  elements  in,  15, 
33 ; definitions  of,  15 ; eclecticism  of, 
28;  three  (modern)  essentials  of, 
36 ; higher  Hinduism  in  contrast  with 
that  of  the  masses,  33,  53 ; mystical 
element  in,  19;  its  narrow  national- 
ism, 36;  essential  nature  of,  29;  re- 
form movements  in,  31 ; its  tolerance 
of  opinion,  36 ; its  virility  today,  55. 

Historical  research  uninteresting  to 
Hindus,  19,  44. 

Hopkins,  Professor  E.  Washburn,  his 
important  share  in  this  report,  9. 

Hume,  Professor  Robert  E.,  his  part  in 
report,  9. 

Illiteracy  of  the  Hindu  masses,  41. 

Immorality,  Hindu  conception  con- 
trasted with  the  Christian  idea,  36. 

Incarnation,  an  idea  common  to  Chris- 
tianity and  Hinduism,  34;  its  mean- 
ing in  Hinduism,  25. 

India,  population  of,  17,  18;  racial 
types  in,  16. 

Industrial  missionary  service  in  India, 
75. 

“Institutes  of  Manu,”  the  fundamental 
law  code  of  Hinduism,  43. 

Jainism,  origin  of,  25. 

Jesus  Christ,  the  fulfilment  of  India’s 
need,  58 ; his  personality,  the  solu- 
tion of  her  perplexities  regarding 
God,  62. 

Jones,  Rev.  Professor  John  P.,  impor- 
tant share  in  report,  4,  6. 

Karma,  27. 

Karma-marga  (works),  the  first  step 
toward  redemption,  39. 

Krishna,  35. 

Language  mastery,  an  essential  to  real 
success,  71,  79. 

Languages  of  India,  42. 

Literary  production  as  a branch  of  mis- 
sion service,  60. 

Literature  of  the  Hindus,  its  dominant 
religious  note,  43 ; its  standing  as  in- 
spired literature,  41 ; its  variety  and 
value,  40;  its  voluminousness,  41. 


109 


INDEX 


Mahabharata,  the  Hindu  epic,  41. 

Maya  (illusion),  28,  35. 

Medical  missionary  service  in  India,  75, 

Missionary  preparation  for  India,  fun- 
damental conditions  of,  16. 

Missionary  to  Hindus,  his  positive  atti- 
tude, 51 ; the  graces  he  must  culti- 
vate, 45-61 ; his  message.  55,  56-62 ; 
the  mistakes  against  which  he  must 
guard,  46,  48,  49,  54,  61 ; the  ques- 
tions of  adopting  native  dress  and 
the  native  ways  of  life,  67-70;  the 
controlling  purpose  of  the,  76-78 ; his 
constant  renewal  of  spiritual  strength, 
55,  59,  60. 

Mysticism  in  Hinduism,  43,  54,  59. 

North  American  mission  work  in  In- 
dia, 66. 

Objective  of  the  missionary,  77. 

Orthodoxy,  Hindu,  its  tests,  24,  29. 

Outcastes  in  India,  30. 

Pantheism,  the  approach  to  it  of  the 
Christian  doctrine  of  Divine  imma- 
nence, 62 ; a cherished  Hindu  doc- 
trine, 27,  37,  38,  52,  59. 

Paul,  a fine  teacher  for  the  missionary 
to  Hindus.  51. 

Philanthropic  relief  service  in  India,  76. 

Philosophical  systems  of  the  Hindus, 
23,  24. 

Polytheism  characteristic  of  Hindu  re- 
ligion. 27,  37. 

Presentation  of  Christianity  to  Hindus, 
Committee  on,  1 ; purpose  and  scope 
of  report,  3,  15,  16. 

Puranas,  44. 

Rama-Krishna  cult,  31. 

Ramanuja,  the  theistic  interpreter  of 
Vedanta,  24,  36,  37. 

Ramayana,  the  Hindu  epic.  41. 

Redemption  in  Hinduism,  39. 

Reform  movements  in  Hinduism.  31. 

Rig  Veda.  21,  22,  27,  43.  44. 

Roman  Catholic  Church  in  India.  64. 
65. 

Sadhu  (ascetic),  69. 


Saivism,  a Hindu  cult,  26,  28,  34. 

Saptiism,  a Hindu  cult,  26. 

Sankara,  the  founder  of  Vedanta  phil- 
osophy, 23,  24. 

Sankhya  philosophy,  its  character,  23; 
its  influence,  24. 

Sanskrit,  the  importance  of  knowing  it, 
73,  79;  the  mother  tongue  of  Hindu- 
ism, 42,  72 ; its  actual  prevalence,  42 ; 
its  religious  significance,  72. 

Shastras  (inspired  books),  23,  60. 

Sin,  Hindu  conception  of,  38. 

Smriti  (traditions),  41. 

Social  service,  growing  spirit  of  in  In- 
dia, 32,  40. 

Specialized  service  in  India,  its  variety 
and  earnest  demand,  73-76. 

Sruti  (revealed  Scripture),  41. 

Studies  particularly  valuable  for  a 
missionary  to  the  Hindus,  78-82. 

Swaini  (holy  man),  29. 

Syrian  Church  in  India,  62-64. 

Tagore,  Rabindranath,  the  poet  of  mys- 
tical devotion,  43. 

Tantras,  44. 

Theism,  natural  appeal  of  to  the  Hin- 
dus, 37.  43. 

Theosophy,  its  character  and  influence, 
31. 

Trinity,  doctrine  of,  only  superficially 
present  in  Hinduism.  34. 

Upanishads.  their  nature,  23,  41 ; their 
value,  43. 

Vaishnavism,  a Hindu  cult,  26,  34. 

Vedanta  philosophy,  its  character,  23 ; 
its  influence,  24. 

Vedas,  the  four,  21,  41. 

Vedic  religion,  aniconic  character,  27 ; 
earliest  form  of  Hinduism,  21,  22,  27. 

Womanhood  in  India,  70;  the  need  of 
specialization  with  reference  to  their 
needs,  71. 

Yoga  (asceticism),  a stage  of  redemp- 
tion, 39. 

Yogi  (ascetic),  70. 


no 


